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THE 
AMERICAN TROTTER 



A Treatise on His Origin, History and Development 

BY 

S. W. PARLIN 

Editor of American Horse Breeder 



With a Preface by 

PETER C. KELLOGG 



Pubihled by 

AMERICAN HORSE BREEDER PUBLISHING CO- 



BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 
1905 






UiORARY of OONGRSSS 
Tvyo Copies iteceiycici 

APR 24 iyU5 

COPY li. ' 



copteight 1905 
By American Hoeisb Bebbdbb Publishinq Go. 



KlLBT LlHOTTPB CO., 

77 KUbr Street, Boston, Mass. 



CONTENTS. 



Ohapthe I. 
THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

PAOHS. 

Byerley Turk. — Darley Arabian. — Godolphln Arabiaa — 
Bald Galloway. — ^Xmported Messenger. — Imported 
Wildair, — Imported Diomed. — Other Imported 
Stallions 11-43 

Chapter II. 
THE EARLIEST TROTTERS. 

Boston Blue. — Screwdriver. — Top Gallant. — Whale- 
bone. — Dutchman. — Lady Suffolk, and Others 44-61 

Chaptbe III. 

HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

Mambrino and Old Abdallah. — Rysdyk's Hambleton- 
ian. — Electioneer. — George Wilkes. — Happy 
Mediiun. — Alexander's Abdallah. — Volunteer. — 
Harold. — Dictator. — ^Aberdeen. — Egbert. — Strath- 
more. — Other Sons of Rysdyk's Hambleton- 
ian 62-106 



111. 



Chapter IV. 
MAMBRINO CHIEF FAMILY. 

PAGES. 
Lady Thorn (2. IS 1-4). — Herr's Mambrino Patchen. — 
Woodford Mambrino. — Mambrino King. — Alma 
Mater. — Princeps. — Pancoast. — Fisk's Mambrino 
Chief Jr.— Clark Chief.— Ericsson 106-120 

Chapter V. 
THE CLAY FAMILY. 

Henry Clay. — Cassius M. Clay. — Geo. M. Patchen 
(2.23 1-2). — Neaves' Cassius M. Clay Jr. — The 
Moor.— Sayre's Harry Clay (2.29).— Other Clay 
Stallions 121-139 

Chapter VI. 
THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

Justin Morgan. — Sherman Morgan. — Vermont Black 
Hawk.— Ethan Allen (2.25 1-2).— Daniel Lambert. 
—General Knox 140-192 

Chapter VII. 

EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 

Seely's American Star. — The Champion Family. — 
Scobey's Champion. — Gooding's Champion. — 
Charley B. (2.25).— The Benton Family.— Alex- 
ander's Norman. — Blackwood 74. — Swigert. — 
The Royal George Family. — Thomas Jefferson 
(2.23) 193-210 



IV. 



CONTENTS. 

Chapter VITT. 
TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

PAGES. 

Pilot.— Pilot Jr.— Bayard (2.31 3-4).— Tattler (2.26). — 
Daughters of Pilot Jr.— Nutwood (2.18-3-4).— 
Midnight. — ^Waterwitch. — ^Tackey. — Wilson's Blue 
Bull. — ^Whitehall. — ^Rhode Island. — Gov. Sprague 
(2.201-2). — Blanco. — Tom Rolfe (2.33 1-2).— 
Young Rolfe. — Pocahontas Boy. — Pocahontas 
Sam 211-242 

Chapter IX. 
TWO PACING FAMILIES. 

Narragansett Pacers. — The Hal Family. — Kittrell's 
Tom Hal. — Gibson's Tom Hal Jr. — Brown Hal 
(2.12 1-2) 243-251 

Chapter X. 
THOROUGHBRED AND PACING CROSSES. 

Their Relative Value as Factors in Trotting Speed. — 

Notable Examples 252-270 

Chapter XI. 
INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

Blood Lines of Noted Winners. — Top Gallant. — Screw- 
driver. — Whalebone. — Dutchman. — Lady Suffolk. 
— Flora Temple. — Dexter. — Goldsmith Maid. — 
Rarus. — St. Julien. — Jay-Eye-See. — Maud S. — 
Sunol. — Nancy Hanks. — Alix. — The Abbot. — Cres- 
ceus.— Lou Dillon 271-290 



V. 



CONTENTS. 

Chapter XII. 

THE WINNING COMBINATION. 

(Pages 291-298.) 

Chapter XIII. 

THE THOROUGHBRED ELEMENT. 

(Pages 299-313.) 



▼1. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Portrait of the Author, Frontispiece. — Lou Dillon. — ^RyBdyk's 
Hambletonian. — George Wilkes. — Electioneer. — ^Alix. 
— Robert McGregor. — Cresceus. — Happy Medium. — 
Nancy Hanks. — Mambrino Patchen. — Maud S. — Harold. 
— ^Lady Thorn. — Gov. Sprague. — Sunol. — Daniel Lam- 
bert. —Miss Russell. — Gen. Knox. — Dictator. — Ethan 
Allen. — Palo Alto. — ^Brown Hal. — Hamburg. 



Vll. 



PREFACE. 



Letter from Hark Comstock. 



Mr. 8. W. Parlin, Editor American Horse Breeder: 

I am glad to learn that your historical letters on 
the American trotter, which have appeared in the 
American Horse Breeder, are to be j)ublished in book 
form. Yon are now among the earliest of those who 
remain living, as student of and writer upon the 
trotting horse. With the exceptions of Joseph Cairn 
Simpson and myself I recall no others, now using the 
pen upon the subject of light harness race horse, who 
were your contemporaries as writers upon that subject 
prior to the Civil War, in which as citizen and sol- 
dier you ably did your duty to the Union. 

Before we began writing, D. C. Linslev and Henry 
William Herbert (Frank Forrester) left good work in 
book form. William T. Porter stamped his individ- 
uality upon the old Spirit of the Times. I read all of 
these but never knew them. George Wilkes to some 
extent, but more particularly Charles J. Foster (Pri- 
vateer), did great work as editors of the later Spirit. 
The latter edited Hiram Woodruff's book. Dr. Ell 
wood Harvey contributed many thoughtful letters. 
S. T. Harris wrote ably and brilliantly, and such cor- 
respondents as "Larkin" (John L. Cassidy), "Sulky," 



TEE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

"Long Islander" (Hon. David W. Jones), "Broad 
Church" (Thomas Atchison), Joseph Cairn Simpson, 
Thomas C. Patterson, Thomas B. Merry (Hidalgo), 
"Ranger" (T. P. Ochiltree), "Potomac" (Alex. Pres- 
ton), "Albion" (J. R. Hubbard), and others contrib- 
uted great value and entertainment, and you and I 
had now and then a word to say. I am not sure but 
John H. Wallace occasionally contributed. He cer- 
tainly wrote some before the war on matters pertain- 
ing to his duties as secretary of an agricultural society 
in Iowa, but it was not until later that he became 
authoritative on matters of pedigree. 

After the war the Turf, Field and Farm was start- 
ed. This brought into greater prominence its editor- 
in-chief, Sanders D. Bruce, the compiler of the Ameri- 
can thoroughbred stud book; his brother, Benj. G. 
Bruce (Neptunus), who afterwards edited a sporting 
Journal in Kentucky; and assistant editor, Hamilton 
Busbey. Much later, perhaps in 1876, Wilkes sold a 
controlling interest in the Spirit of the Times to E. 
A. Buck, who brought onto his staff Walter T. Chester 
("GriflSn"), who afterwards joined the Turf, Field and 
Farm, and published valuable stastistical works. An- 
other writer on the Spirit staff at this time was W. 
S.Vosburgh ("Vigilant"), the most graceful, instruc- 
tive and entertaining writer on the thoroughbred since 
Charles J. Foster, but little interested in the trotter. 
He now holds the important office of official handicap- 
per to the Jockey Club. 

For two or three years prior to the sale of the 
Spirit it was well edited by J. H. Sanders, founder 
of that flourishing livestock journal, The Breeder's 



PREFACE. 

Gazette, of Chicago. Eev. W. H. H. Murray wrote in 
the later Spirit and left a book, The Perfect Horse. 
Before this Cyrus Lukens had commenced to write. I 
don't remember just when he began, but pretty far 
back for so young a man. The Western horse papers 
had meantime started in with vigor, supported by very 
able pens. They brought forward "Yarrum," "Trot- 
wood," "Volunteer," "Veritas," H. T. White, editor of 
John Splan's book; H. D. McKinney ("Mambrino"), 
but these cannot all be classed among old timers. 

Wallace started his monthly magazine in 1875, 
into which he threw his aggressive personality and ulti- 
mately drew about him a number of very able disciples 
and preachers of his doctrines. Of these Leslie E. 
McLeod was a particularly forceful writer, terse in ex- 
pression and so like his chief in style that it was some- 
times diflScult to discern which pen wrote the edi- 
torial. He also edited Charles Marvin's book on The 
Trotting Horse. Judge Halsey ("Iconoclast") sprung 
from this school, though not from the office, and wrote 
well from the standpoint of its dogmas. Similarly J. 
W. Thompson of Maine compiled a book of pedigrees 
of Maine-bred horses and conducted a paper, The 
Maine Horse Breeders Monthly. Rev. T. A. Hendrick 
("Aurelius") was another Wallacean advocate of abil- 
ity. H. T. Helm was not of that school, but wrote 
in the Monthly and afterwards left an excellent book, 
W. H. Marrett ("Vision") wrote for the Monthly and 
the Breeder. 

Gurney O. Gue came to light in the Monthly office 
and has served the trotter well as a journalist and 
as a compiler of pedigrees, which I understand are to 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

appear in book form. He is now at the head of the 
harness horse department of the New York Herald, 
and that reminds me of noble old Jo. Elliott, sporting 
editor of that great paper, '\years and years ago." 
But I must not get down to the more recent writers. 
They are numerous and able and not a few of them 
are brilliant. Few subjects are as well supported to- 
day by philosophical and literary talent as the trotting 
horse. But I am not going to flatter the youngsters 
up to their real deserts. Their vanity needs no stim- 
ulation now. When they reach your years and mine, 
and centuT'ies look shorter to them, doubtless they 
will be able to bear becomingly a reasonable degree 
of praise; if it be bestowed upon them. Suffice it 
that, when we "old boys" have dropped out, the forge 
will not grow cold for want of strong young blood 
at the bellows. You and I may call ourselves oM 
timers when it is remembered that we have both had 
discussions through the press with nearly all of the 
writers excepting the very earliest. 

Now that I have paved the way I want to speak in 
high praise of your career as a writer upon horse 
topics, horse history and the philoso{)hy of breeding. 
Your contributions to the presc; have ever been tem- 
])ered with logical reasonableness and fortified with 
M great degree of accuracy. Even in response to cap- 
tious criticism you have always maintained an atti 
tude of surprising courtesy, of which I wish I could 
have been a closer imitator, and which I commend as 
an example to many younger members of the guild. 
Satire, vmircasm aud ridicule are not argument. Thev 



PREFACE. 

are the resort of the weak when standing upon un- 
certain ground. I do not deny that they take with 
the thoughtless and superficial. For that reason they 
often do great harm and retard progress, but they do 
not stop it. Ultimately the true merits of the ques 
tion are recognized. When a man who aspires to a 
reputation for philosophical argument, drops logic 
and resorts to ridicule, it is a pretty sure sign that he 
is beaten and knows it, but wants to conceal it. I 
have never seen you driven into that corner. 

I can scarcely have missed reading much that you 
ever wrote. The channels of such literature prior to 
the seventies were few. We writers subscribed to 
them all, and we knew of each other, whether person- 
ally acquainted or not. It must have been about 1870 
that you dropped floating correspondence and assumed 
a trotting horse corner in the American Cultivator of 
Boston, published by our mutual friend, George B. 
James, who in time was encouraged to establish the 
American Horse Breeder. This you have edited from 
its commencement in about 1882. I do not think I 
have missed a dozen numbers of either paper since you 
became identified with them. There are many able 
journals identified with the trotting horse which I 
have read and which I continue to read with great 
profit and satisfaction. It is no reflection upon any 
of the others to say that, imbued as my mind has ever 
been with the breeding subject as its paramount theme, 
The Breeder, edited by you up to the significance of its 
title, has for a long time been my favorite horse 
journal. 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Perhaps one reason why your editorial pages have 
held my interest is that in general we have been 
in accord in our views upon the breeding subject. 
Many younger writers are against us in that we place 
so great a value upon blood that is far back in the 
pedigrees of modern great horses. A view has been 
exaggerated among them that handling and develop- 
ment per 86 have changed the innate character of the 
horses that are now successful on the tracks and 
that the same treatment from generation to genera- 
tion would have made them the same as they now are, 
even if their ancestors a dozen removes back had all 
been cart horses instead of some of them having been 
thoroughbreds. 

Never was there a greater fallacy. Handling points 
out where the right qualities have descended by in- 
heritance, and facilitates logical selection for breed- 
ing purposes. If it does an atom more than that 
in relation to heredity it at most does very little more, 
and that little cannot be philosophically proved. 
Starting with a race of milk-white cats, so established 
as to breed true to that color, you may dye the kittens 
jet black, and keep them dyed for twenty generations, 
bred exclusively within the stock, and at the end ofi 
that time not a kitten will be born black from theiri 
jet-dyed parents. Doubtless a dark breed may be es- 
tablished from a light breed by careful selection and 
copulation, but not by manipulation. The inherent 
element must be wrought upon ; not the acquired ones. 
The breeder who thinks that Diomed, and pyramids of 
his blood, count for nothing when found in a race 
horse of today, whether runner or trotter, is simply 



PREFACE. 

throwing the laws of heredity to the winds. You can 
take material from an ore-bed and make steel of it, 
and you can take material from a elay-bed and make 
brick of it, but you cannot, in a hundred years, take 
unmixed that which came from the clay-bed and make 
steel of it. Manipulation cannot make something out 
of nothing nor create improved forms from a material 
that does not first partake of the essential base upon 
which those improved forms depend. 

You can blend different substances and different 
bloods, thus uniting separate bases and obtain a sur- 
prising variety of results of composite nature, many 
of them capable of uses and accomplishments far be- 
yond the reach of any one separate element of its com- 
position. While unmixed clay can never be manipu- 
lated into steel, it may by blending with other ele- 
ments be made the basis of another metal — aluminum. 
Nevertheless, to do this, there must have existed in 
each contributive element of the compound an innate 
essential quality placed there by nature as a basic 
contribution to the blend, that is greater than any of 
its separate parts. Diomed may not have trotted 
much in his own right, but he, or his equivalent, is as 
essential an element in a race horse of either kind to- 
day as he was to our runners of 60 to 100 years ago 
when his blood, often inbred, swept everything before 
it; nor has it yet ceased to assert its power, as fre- 
quently pointed out by the best analytical authorities 
on the breeding of the modern American thorough- 
bred. If Diomed's essential quality has been trans- 
mitted to the present time in the running field, is there 
reason to doubt that his blood affects, according to its 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

uature, the trotter of today that possesses multipli- 
cations of it? 

It has always been a gratification to me in reading 
your articles to recognize that you have ever duly 
appreciated the physical quality of the thoroughbred 
— his organism — as a valuable adjunct in raising the 
trotting breed to its present standard. I rejoice with 
you and those other writers who have never yielded to 
the tirade against this view led by the late compiler of 
the 'Trotting Register. His deep-seated prejudices 
against the thoroughbred and in favor of what he 
called ''pacing blood" in my judgment totally disqual- 
ified him as a candid and truthful renderer of pedi- 
grees, during most of the time he was so employed. 

I can foresee that your book will be of great value 
in controverting many important instances falsely of 
record, on account of this unfortunate bias of the for- 
mer compiler of the Register. Your careful work in 
searching and compiling evidence for the vindication 
of the real, and the controversion of distorted, horse 
history, has always commanded my respect and ad- 
miration. Many a time I have laboriously gone back 
through old files of The Breeder to re-read such mat- 
ters from your pen. The convenience of having them 
in book form will be a boon to 

Yours fraternally, 

PETER C. KELLOGG, 
Otherwise "Hark Comstoek." 

New York, January, 1905. 



The American Trotter. 



INTRODUCTION. 



America surpasses all other nations of the world in 
many respects, but probably in none other more than in 
the quality of its light-harness horse. The trotters and 
pacers bred and raised here excel in speed those pro- 
duced in any other quarter of the globe. This is due to 
several causes, prominent among which are our parlor 
tracks, light-harnesses, so fashioned and adjusted as to 
allow the greatest freedom of action, light, easy-running 
sulkies, which are the best in the world; the skill of 
American trainers of trotting horses, and farriers, both 
of whom are superior to those of any other nation in 
training and balancing the trotter. The chief cause of 
the superiority of our trotters, however, is undoubtedly 
due to the excellent foundation for a trotting family 
that was laid in this country by the English running 
horse, imported Messenger, and the methods followed 
by American breeders. As all the record-breaking trot- 
ters in this country during the past forty years have 
been descendants of imported Messenger, it must be 
interesting and profitable to the young student of the 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

trotting breeding problem to learn something of the 
origin, history and character of the ancestors of that 
wonderful animal. 

During the first quarter of the last century the fastest 
trotters in the world were produced in England. They 
were known there as Norfolk trotters. They could at 
that time trot one mile or one hundred miles in less 
time than any of the trotters that had ever been pro- 
duced in this or any other country. It is stated upon 
good authority that a mare called Nonpareil trotted 100 
miles in nine hours and fifty-seven seconds, pulling a 
vehicle called a match cart. This performance occurred 
at least ten years before the American mare Fanny 
Jenks trotted 100 miles in nine hours, thirty-eight 
minutes and three seconds. Early in the thirties a 
stallion named Norfolk Phenomenon, bred and raised in 
England, trotted two miles in five minutes and four 
seconds. The best time ever made for two miles by a 
trotter in America previous to 1840 was five minutes 
and eleven seconds, which is seven seconds slower than 
the time of Norfolk Phenomenon. Both Nonpareil and 
Norfolk Phenomenon were by Fireaway, a Norfolk 
trotter, that was a direct descendant of Blaze, by Flying 
Childers. The dam of Norfolk Phenomenon also traced 
directly to Blaze through her sire. 



The following chapters were written previous to the 
issue of the Year Book of 1904, and the records of 
horses, produce of stallions and mares and kindred 
statistics, were compiled with reference to the returns 
of 1903. 



10 



Chaptbb I. 
THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 



Byerley Turk. — ^Darley Arabian. — (Jodolphin Arabian. — ^Bald 
Galloway. — Imported Messenger. — Imported Wildair. — 
Imported Diomed. — Other Imported Stallions. 

Horse racing has been a popular sport for many 
centuries. It was a favorite pastime with the Greeks 
for at least 600 years before the Christian era. The 
races in those early days were to chariots. It is a 
matter of history, too, that the Romans raced horses 
to chariots at least four hundred years before the birth 
of Christ. It is uncertain when horse racing first 
began in England. The English writer and practical 
breeder of thoroughbred racing stock, William Day, 
in his work entitled "The Horse, How to Breed 
and Rear Him," has the following to say on this sub- 
ject : 

As for racing in England, the earliest record of it that I 
can light upon is that given by Strutt, in his "Sports and 
Pastimes of the People of England." Racing, or something 
like it, was set going during the reign of Athelstan (which 
extended from 925 to his death in 941, A. D.— Ed). We know 
further that this king (Athelstan) received as a present from 
Germany several running horses, evidently race horses. • • • 
PItz Stephen, in his description of London, A. D. 1154, says: 



11 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Smithfield is a field where every Friday there is a celebrated 
rendezvous of fine horses brought hither to be sold. He then 
speaks of racing and adds that here it was first known in 
England. The strong and fleet apparently were only allowed 
to contend, as the common horses were ordered out of the 
way, apparently for the purpose of clearing the course. 

I presume they raced in those days for honor and the jockey 
rode for applause, as no mention is made for stipulated fees 
or gratuities to the riders. But soon after the twelfth century 
racing was more common, and then they ran for stakes — 
forty pounds of "redy goldie." The distance is stated three 
miles, and the scene in the Metropolis transferred from 
Smithfield to Hyde Park. 

It is evident from the above that horse racing for 
money has been practiced for at least eight hundred 
years, and that horses have been carefully bred there for 
racing purposes even longer than that. No records 
were kept, and no regular accounts preserved, showing 
how the horses finished, or the time they made, for 
nearly six hundred years, or until about 1721. It mat- 
ters little to practical breeders of the present day where 
the horses that first appeared in England originated, 
or the date that they first became established there. It 
is a matter of history that when the noted Roman war- 
rior, Julius Caesar, invaded that country about 54 
years before the Christian era, horses strong enough 
for cavalry purposes were quite numerous there, and 
the quality was doubtless improved about that time by 
crossing with the horses taken there by the Roman 
army, and others sent there shortly afterwards by 
Julius Caesar. 

William Day remarks in his work quoted above that 
at the beginning of the Christian era the horses of 
that country were already mixed in blood with the 



12 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

breed of four different nations, including Turks and 
Arabians. The running horses from Germany, men- 
tioned above, added another cross, which doubtless im- 
proved the speed and racing qualities of the horse stock 
of that country, for one equine historian has remarked 
that: "The English horses after this appear to have 
been prized on the continent." Several of the rulers of 
England at different periods were evidently consid- 
erably interested in turf sports and the improvement 
of horse stock. It is stated that Edward III., who 
occupied the throne from 1327 to 1377, imported fifty 
Spanish horses during his reign. During the reign 
of Henry VIII., who occupied the throne from 1510 to 
1547, by an act of Parliament, no "stallions above the 
age of two years not being fifteen hands high were 
permitted to be put on any forest, chase, moor, heath, 
common or waste in 26 counties of England, and the 
whole of North Wales," the object being to increase 
the size, usefulness and value of the horse stock in his 
kingdom. 

James I., who reigned in England from 1603 to 1625, 
is given the distinction, by English turf writers, of 
being the first to try the experiment of introducing an 
Arabian stallion into England for the purpose of im- 
proving the horse stock. This horse was bought from 
an Arabian merchant named Markham, and was known 
as Markham's Arabian. It is generally conceded by 
equine historians that Markham's Arabian was a fail- 
ure, both as a turf performer and a progenitor of such, 
the effect of which was to create quite a strong preju- 
dice against the Arabians. 

Place's White Turk, that was taken to England not 

13 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

long after Markham's Arabian, evidently proved quite 
a valuable factor in the improvement of horse stock. 
His name is found in the pedigrees of several animals 
that became noted either as performers or as pro- 
genitors of performers. James Rice, author of "His- 
tory of the British Turf," says that at the time of the 
reign of James I., "We had in England a native breed 
of horses, stout but slow, of sterling merit, and of great 
powers of endurance — great 'goodness,' as capacity of 
staying was then termed; and these animals are the 
stock from which the British race horse of more mod- 
ern times has been derived, and from judicious crosses 
of which with imported sires the finest breed of horses 
the world ever saw has been produced." 

It is generally conceded th.at Charles II., who held 
the sceptre in England from 1660 to 1685, accomplished 
more in improving the English race horse than any 
person who preceded him. It is stated that he "sent 
his Master of the horse abroad to purchase foreign mares 
of the best and purest blood, as well as stallions. The 
former were called, and are to this day known in the 
Stud Book as Royal Mares, though it appears little 
was then or is now known of their pedigree." The cel- 
ebrated Eclipse and Highflyer were bred in the ma* 
ternal line from some of these royal mares. Within a 
few years from the time of the arrival of these royal 
mares in England three stallions were taken there at 
different times, that improved the speed and racing 
qualities of the horse stock of that country greatly. In 
fact, it is claimed that all the best race horses that have 
been produced in England during the past two hundred 
years have been descendants of one or the other of these 



14 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

three stallions. Many of the most famous have com- 
bined the blood of all three of them, and some of the 
very best that were descendants of all three were also 
considerably inbred to one or more of them. These 
three noted stallions were Byerley Turk, Darley 
Arabian and Godolphin Arabian. 

The reliable English author, William Pick, states 
that "Byerley Turk was Captain Byerley's charger in 
Ireland in King William's wars (1689, etc.), and after- 
wards proved a most excellent stallion." It is stated, 
however, that but few well-bred mares were mated with 
him. A few years later Darley Arabian was bought 
by an English merchant named Darley, who was lo- 
cated in the East. He was a member of a hunting 
club, through which he became acquainted with dis- 
tinguished sporting men among the native princes and 
chiefs. This acquaintance enabled Mr. Darley to 
secure one of the best of the Eastern horses, and he 
immediately sent him to England, to be used for 
stock purposes. His opportunities in the stud were 
not much more favorable than those of Byerley Turk, 
but he proved even more successful than the latter. 
Godolphin Arabian was the last of the three, and 
was in time the most successful of all as a progenitor 
of race horses. Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and 
Godolphin Arabian appear to bear the same relation 
to the racing stock of England as do Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian, Mambrino Chief and Henry Clay to the trotting 
stock of America. 

According to the eminent English writer, J. H. 
Walsh (Stonehenge), the breed of race horses, known 
as thoroughbreds, was established about 1750. The 



15 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

basis of this breed, as stated by that author, was as 
follows : 

(1) Native mares used for racing and bred from Spanish 
and English strains, the former most probably descended 
from the Barbs of Morocco. 

(2) Markham's Arabian, imported in the time of James the 
First, but proved to be good for nothing, and most probably 
there is now not the slightest strain of his blood extant. 

(3) Place's White Turk, extensively used, and to him most 
of our best horses can be traced through Matchem. 

(4) The three Turks, brought over from the siege of Vienna 
in 1684. 

(5) The Royal Mares imported by Charles the Second, who 
sent his "Master of the Horse to the Levant" especially to 
procure them. These are also mentioned in all the best 
pedigrees. 

At the time the thoroughbred breed was established, 
the English had been racing horses for more than six 
hundred years. There is no doubt that during these 
six or more centuries breeders had constantly en- 
deavored to improve the speed and staying qualities 
of their horses, by carefully selecting their best and 
most successful race mares, and mating them with 
their fastest stallions, just as they have been doing 
ever since the thoroughbred came into existence. 

It is evident, too, from the number of foreign horses 
that had been taken to England, beginning at the time 
that those were landed there by the Roman Emperor, 
when his troops occupied that territory some fifty 
or more years before the Christian era, and at different 
times up to A. D. 1700, that much if not most of what 
was termed the native stock had become strongly im- 
pregnated with the best of Eastern blood. 



16 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

{Since the establishment of the General Stud Book, 
which was published in England in 1793, the records 
of racing there and the pedigrees of the winners have 
been carefully kept. This General Stud Book ''pro- 
fessed to give the pedigree, with few exceptions, of 
every animal of note that had appeared on the turf 
from 1743, and many of an earlier date, with some 
account of foreign horses from which the present breed 
of racers is derived." This work is believed to be the 
oldest authenticated record of pedigrees of horses ever 
published. 

Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphiu 
Arabian were so popular, and their influence in im- 
proving the speed and racing qualities of the thorough- 
bred stock so marked, that in less than one hundred 
years from the time that the first of the three began 
doing stud service in England, all the most successful 
race winners in that country, with scarcely an excep- 
tion, were descendants of one or the other of them, and, 
as already remarked, in some of the best, like Herod 
and Edipse, the blood of two or more of them was 
combined. No information concerning the ancestors 
of these three famous horses is given in the General 
Stud Book or in Pick's Turf Register. It is not known 
that either of them was ever raced. It is generally 
believed, however, that Byerley Turk was of the Turk- 
ish or Morocco breed, and that the other two. though 
called Arabians, were pure Barbs. It matters little at 
this late day what their breeding may have been, 
although it probably was of the l)est, for the character 
of an animal, like that of a tree, is known by its 
fruit. Judging by the influence which these three 



17 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

BtallioDS exerted upon the racing stock of England, 
they must have been considerably superior to any that 
had preceded them. 

Darley Arabian, Godolphin Arabian is generally 
credited with getting better stock than either of the 
others. This was as might naturally be expected. He 
had better opportunities than the others, for he was 
a later importation. The best mares that were de- 
scendants of the other two were undoubtedly mated 
with him and his sons after his reputation was estab- 
lished. From the evidence at hand it would seem that 
Darley Arabian was entitled to fully as much credit 
for improving the speed, courage and endurance of 
the English thoroughbred as was Godolphin Arabian. 
It is not claimed by any English author that Godolphin 
Arabian ever got a faster horse than Flying Childers, a 
horse that raced against the best and was never beaten. 
Flying Childers was by Darley Arabian, and there was 
no cross of either Byerley Turk or Godolphin Arabian 
in his pedigree. Blaze, a son of Flying Childers, got 
Sampson, one of the best as well as the largest and 
strongest race horses of his day. Engineer, by Sampson, 
was even more successful as a race horse than his sire, 
at least he was campaigned much more extensively. He 
was on the turf six years and was beaten only five 
times. Neither Sampson nor Engineer inherited any 
of the blood of either Byerley Turk or Godolphin 
Arabian. 

From a daughter of Cade, by Godolphin Arabian, 
Engineer got Mambrino, an excellent race horse. He 
was raced some for six seasons, and was beaten but 
four times. Unlike his sire and grandsire, however, 

18 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

Mambrino never got a race horse that was equal to 
himself. His progeny seemed to deteriorate, so far 
as their racing ability was concerned. There are good 
grounds for believing that he showed unusual inclina- 
tion, for a running-bred horse, to stick to the trotting 
gait, and also unusual speed ability at that gait for 
a thoroughbred. The English author. Pick, is au- 
thority for the statement that 

"Mambrino was likewise sire of a great many excel- 
lent Hunters — and it has been said that from his blood 
the breed of horses for the coach was brought nearly 
to perfection." 

His son. Messenger, that was brought to America in 
1888, imparted a stronger inclination to stick to the 
trotting gait than any other running-bred horse that 
has ever stood in America. His history is related 
further on in this volume. 

It has been claimed that owing to the unusual size, 
substance and coarseness of Sampson, his dam could 
not have been bred as represented in the General Stud 
Book, but must have had a cart horse cross in her 
pedigree. William Pick, author of "Pick's Turf Regis- 
ter," was a very careful writer, and his work bears 
evidence that he was not influenced by prejudice, Mr. 
Pick states that the dam of Sampson was (Baboon's 
dam) by Hip; second dam by Spark (son of the Honey- 
comb Punch) ; third dam by Mr. Lister's Snake, and 
fourth dam. Lord D'Arcy's Queen. Hip was by Cur- 
wen Bay Barb, an Eastern horse, and a very valuable 
sire. The dam of Hip was by Lister's Turk, another 
Eastern horse. Lister's Snake, sire of the third dam of 
Sampson, was also by Lister's Turk. John Lawrence, 

19 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

an able but evidently prejudiced English writer on 
liorse matters, states that the groom who was sent with 
the dam of Sampson when she was mated with Blaze, a 
son of Flying Childers, the year before Sampson was 
foaled, said she only looked to be three-quarters bred. 
It is not always safe, however, to change a pedigree on 
the strength of a groom's opinion of the pedigree when 
that opinion is formed solely on the appearance of an 
animal. Mr. Lawrence, though an able writer, was 
sometimes mistaken. He contended that the sire of 
Old Shales, the sire of Scott Shales, that was the 
renowned ancestor of the Norfolk trotters and of the 
Hackneys, was Blank, a son of Godolphin Arabian. 
Other authorities contend that Old Shales was by 
Blaze, the son of Flying Childers, that got Sampson. 
A thorough investigation brought to light indisputable 
evidence, which proved most conclusively that Mr. Law- 
rence was wrong, and that Old Shales was by Blaze. 
Even the late John H. Wallace, who for some time con- 
tended that Lawrence was the most reliable of all 
English writers, acknowledged that Mr. Lawrence was 
wrong in this case, and that Old Shales was by Blaze, 
son of Flying Childers, instead of Blank, by Godolphin 
Arabian. As Mr. Lawrence erred in regard to the 
breeding of Old Shales, it is probable that Mr. Pick 
was right and Mr. Lawrence wrong concerning the 
breeding of the dam of Sampson. It is not probable, 
however, that Sampson was strictly thoroughbred. 

English Eclipse was the most renowned race horse in 
England in his day. He met the best horses of his 
time, and defeated them so easily that finally no one 
could be found to start a horse against hira. He was 



20 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

never beaten in a race. Eclipse may not have been so 
coarse as Sampson, but he was certainly larger. Stone- 
henge says of this wonderful horse, "Though Eclipse 
was very low before (forward), yet he was 66 inches 
high." Now 66 inches is 16.2 hands. Sampson, accord- 
ing to Pick, was 15.2 hands. It is probable that 66 
inches was the height of Eclipse over the hips. He 
was considerably higher behind than forward. Stone- 
henge, quoting from Percival, further says of Eclipse, 
''he was a big horse in every sense of the word; 
he was tall in stature, lengthy and capacious in body, 
and large in his limbs," etc. Eclipse, like Sampson, 
was a direct descendant in the paternal line of Darley 
Arabian. His sire, Marske, was by Squirt, and Squirt 
was by Bartlett's Childers, a son of Darley Arabian. 
Bartlett's Childers, the great grandsire of Eclipse, was 
full brother of Flying Childers, the grandsire of Samp- 
son. It is not improbable that Sampson and Eclipse, 
which had a common origin, inherited their size from 
the same common ancestor. 

In view of the development theory, it is interesting 
to note what is said of the racing career of the an- 
cestors of Eclipse in James Rice's "History of the 
British Turf," published in 1879, from which we quote 
as follows: "Bartlett's Childers, the sire of Squirt, 
was never trained at all, and Snake, the sire of Squirt's 
dam, was never trained." On the dam's side Eclipse's 
own dam, Spiletta, only started in one race in her life, 
and then was beaten, and her grandsire, Godolphin 
Arabian, was said to have been purchased out of the 
shafts of a water cart in Paris. 

Notwithstanding the fact of his better opportunities. 



21 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

it is not probable that any of the descendants of Godol- 
phin Arabian did more to improve the racing stock of 
England than did Flying Childers, Bartlett's Childers 
and Eclipse, all of which were descendants of Darley 
Arabian. 

Byerlby Turk. Byerley Turk seems to have gained 
distinction chiefly through his son Jigg, and the latter 
through one son, Croft's Partner, and several daughters 
that produced excellent performers. The dam of 
Croft's partner was by Curwen Bay Barb. Pick's 
Turf Register says: 

Partner was a horse of great strength, fine shape and 
beauty. He was the best racer of his time at Newmarket. 
He was allowed to be as fine a stallion as any ever bred 
in this kingdom, and not inferior to any foreign one. 

The most noted of Croft's Partner's get, as a sire, 
was Tartar, described by Pick as "near 15 hands high, 
of great power and strength, and allowed to be as fine 
a horse as any in England." The most noted of the get 
of Tartar was Herod, or King Herod, as he was some- 
times called. Herod was quite successful as a race 
horse, and made a great reputation as a perpetuator of 
racing speed. The Turf Register devotes several pages 
to Herod, from which we extract the following verbatim ; 

King Herod was a remarkably fine horse, with uncommon 
power, and allowed to be one of the best bred horses this 
kingdom ever produced, and as a stallion inferior to none, 
being sire of a larger number of racers, stallions and brood 
mares than any other horse, either before or since his time. 

The same authority states that in nineteen years 
four hundred and ninety-seven of Herod's get won two 
hundred and one thousand, five hundred and five 
pounds and nine shillings. The dam of Herod was by 



22 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

Blaze, the son of Flying Childers, that got Sampson, 
already mentioned. Herod's second dam was by 
Bethell's Arabian, whose get were very highly valued. 
His third dam was by Champion, a son of Harpur's 
Arabian, and his fourth dam was by Darley Arabian, 
the sire of Flying Childers, etc. It will be seen by the 
above that the dam of Herod was inbred to Darley 
Arabian. 

GoDOLPHiN Arabian. Some will doubtless wonder 
what all this has to do with the American trotter. It 
will be shown in due time that the above descendants 
of Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin 
Arabian played a very important part in the produc- 
tion of the best of our light harness performers. 
Godolphin Arabian, that most writers claim did more 
to improve the racing stock of England than either 
Byerley Turk or Darley Arabian, like the two last 
named, was of unknown origin. The best English 
authors, however, are unanimous in the opinion that 
he was a Barb. According to one tradition "Godol- 
phin Arabian was presented by the Emperor of 
Morocco to Louis XIV. as a fine Barb," but was so 
lightly esteemed in Paris that he was used for drawing 
a cart about the streets. He was bought by a Mr. 
Coke, who took him to England, and gave him to a Mr. 
Williams, proprietor of the St. James Coflfee House, 
by whom he was presented to Lord Godolphin, a suc- 
cessful breeder of racing stock. He was used, for a 
season or two, as a teaser to Hobgoblin. The latter 
showed a great aversion to Lord Godolphin's valuable 
race mare, Roxana, and she was mated with Godolphin 
Arabian. The produce was Lath, and he proved one 

I 23 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

of the best race horses of his day. When Lath was 
one year old Roxana was again mated with Godolphin 
Arabian, and the produce was a colt foal. Roxana 
died when this colt was ten days old. The youngster 
was brought up on cow's milk, and was named Cade. 
He was raced three or four times, but was a failure as 
a race horse. Regulus, by Godolphin Arabian, was a 
first-class race horse, fully equal to Lath, Pick says 
that 

"Regulus at six years won eight Royal Plates and a 
50 pound plate. He was never beaten and was much 
superior to any other horse of his time." 

Cade, that started only three or four times, and 
was unsuccessful as a race horse, proved the most suc- 
cessful of all the sons of Godolphin Arabian as a per- 
petuator of race-winning speed. James Rice, author 
of "History of the British Turf," says that the greatest 
names in the early stud books are undoubtedly Herod, 
Matchem and Eclipse. Herod, as has already been 
shown, was a direct descendant in the male line of 
Byerley Turk, and through his dam he was inbred to 
Darley Arabian. Matchem was by Cade, mentioned 
above, and his dam was by Croft's Partner, a grandson 
of Byerley Turk, that has already been described. 
Eclipse was by Marske, a grandson of Blaze, by Darley 
Arabian, and his dam, Spiletta, was by Regulus, a son 
of Godolphin Arabian. The dam of Regulus was Grey 
Robinson, a daughter of Bald Galloway. 

Bald Galloway. This Bald Galloway was very 
successful as a sire of race winners. He got some of 
the most remarkable race horses of their day. One of 

24 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

them was called Buckhunter, and also known as Car- 
lisle Gelding, was on the turf thirteen seasons, begin- 
ning in 1719, and ending in 1731. He was then 
eighteen years old. He won seventeen plates after 
he was fourteen years old, and broke a leg in 1731 
in the second heat of a race, the first of 
which he had won. He was so ungovernable that he 
was castrated when young. The name of Bald Gallo- 
way appears in the pedigree of quite a number of 
famous race winners and successful sires. He got Rox- 
ana, the dam of Lath and Cade, already mentioned. 

Bald Galloway received considerable attention from 
the late J. H. Wallace in his last work devoted to the 
horse, entitled "The Horse of America." Mr. Wallace 
finally disposes of him as follows : 

The Bald Galloway was one of the most successful stallions 
of his day, and yet he was nothing in the world but a good 
representative of the old pacing Galloways of that portion 
of Scotland called Galloway. 

Mr. Wallace speaks in high terms in the above named 
work of the English author, William Pick, and justly 
so, for every one who has read Pick's Turf Register 
must be impressed with the candor and absence of 
prejudice of the writer in every sentence of the work. 
On Page 10, Vol. I., of Pick's Turf Register, may be 
found the following: 

The Bald Galloway (sire of Buckhunter) was bred by 
Captain Rider of Whittleberry Forest, Northamptonshire. He 
was got by a Barb of Monsieur St. Victor of France, well 
known to sportsmen by the name of the St. Victor Barb. His 
dam was a mare of Captain Rider, got by Mr. Fenwick's 
Whynot (son of his Barb). His gran dam was a Royal Mare, 
etc. 

Mr. Wallace was unable to find any trace of St. 

25 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Victor Barb during his investigation in England, henqe 
did not hesitate to declare him a myth. Had he care- 
fully examined Mr. Pick's statement he would have 
observed that this Barb which got Bald Galloway was 
owned in France. If the French were as careful to 
preserve their records of running stock as were the 
English, he could probably have learned something 
concerning St. Victor Barb had he gone to France and 
searched the records there. 

Some authors have confused Whynot, the sire of the 
dam of Bald Galloway, with Lord Onslow's Whynot, 
a son of Crab. Mr. Wallace very properly shows that 
the dam of Bald Galloway could not have been by the 
latter, because this Onslow's Whynot was foaled in 
1744, while Bald Galloway was foaled as early as 1710 
at latest, and probably earlier. But Pick states posi- 
tively that the dam of Bald Galloway was Captain 
Rider's mare, and that she was by Fenwick's Whynot 
(son of his Barb). Whynot foaled in 1744, was bred 
by Sir John Phillips and sold to Lord Onslow. He was 
never owned by Mr. Fenwick, and his sire. Crab, was 
not a Barb. 

It was not Mr. Pick's fault that the dam of Bald 
Galloway has, through mistake, been credited by some 
authors to Onslow's Whynot. Whynot that got the 
dam of Bald Galloway is not mentioned in Pick's 
Register, except as shown in the above quotation. It 
is highly probable that he, like St, Victor Barb, sire of 
Galloway, was owned in France. It is known that 
there were several Barbs in that country at dififerent 
times. Among them were Curwen Bay Barb and 
Thoulouse Barb. Who this Mr. Fenwick was, and 

26 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

what Barb got Whynot that sired the dam of Bald 
Galloway, were probably known to Mr. Pick, or at least 
to some reliable person from whom he got the facts. 
Is it probable that the progressive breeders of England 
at that day could have been induced to mate their 
choicest mares with a representative of a pacing family 
for the purpose or with the expectation that the 
produce would prove winners at the running gait? 
The idea seems too absurd to be seriously considered. 
If Mr. Wallace got any information of that nature from 
a source that he believed to be trustworthy, is it not 
singular, to say the least, that he did not mention the 
author of the information that caused him to transform 
the breeding of Bald Galloway from pure Eastern 
stock, as given by the careful, well-informed, unpreju- 
diced equine historian. Pick, to a pacer from Galloway, 
Scotland? It is customary when changing a pedigree 
which has stood as that of Bald Galloway has, for 
nearly two hundred years, to give at least part of the 
evidence upon which the change is authorized. The 
writer knows, from personal investigation, that the 
dam of Vermont Black Hawk, that was represented by 
the man who brought her to New Hampshire as a half- 
bred mare, raised in New Brunswick, and that now 
appears in Wallace's Trotting Register as a pacer, was 
never known to pace a step in her life. 

The name of this Bald Galloway appears several 
times, remotely it is true, in the pedigrees of the most 
noted light-harness performers in America, from old 
Top Gallant to Lou Dillon, and Pocahontas to Dan 
Patch. Pick's Turf Register, Vol. I., also mentions 

27 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

a horse called Mixbury Galloway, that was got by Cur- 
wen Bay Barb. This Mixbury Galloway was on the 
turf in 1725, and won several plates at York that 
season, one of which was called the Galloway plate. 
He was a small horse, only 13.2 hands high. It is not 
known that he was in any way related to Bald 
Galloway. 

The horse, which is the central figure in the founda- 
tion stock, and has played the most important part in 
the American trotter so far as the inclination to stick 
to the trotting gait is concerned, is imported Messen- 
ger. None of his get so far as known were trotters of 
note, probably because trotting sports were not in vogue 
in their day. Wherever his descendants were located, 
several of them at least planted seeds of trotting incli- 
nation, which, when dropped in favorable soil, germi- 
nated, grew, matured, and produced trotting fruit in 
abundance. Since trotting became a popular sport in 
this country, many horses have founded families of 
trotters that have flourished for a time and then died, 
or became absorbed by other more potent families, until 
today there are really but four families generally recog- 
nized as such. Two of those families were founded by 
descendants of imported Messenger, a horse of which 
we shall have more to say hereafter, and he was un- 
doubtedly the most potent factor, or controlling ele- 
ment, so far as the trotting inclination and gait is con- 
cerned, in one of the others. These families are known 
as the Hambletonian, Mambrino Chief, Clay and Mor- 
gan. Among the other imported horses that have 
contributed largely to the extreme speed and superior 
racing qualities of the American trotter are Wildair, 

28 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

Diomed, Morton's Traveller, Sour Grout, Bellfounder 
(a Norfolk trotter), Trustee, Margrave, Glencoe. Con- 
sternation, Bonnie Scotland, Knight of St. George, etc. 
Imported Messenger. Imported Messenger wsls de- 
scribed as a grey horse about 15.3 hands high, with 
more substance than finish, but though a trifle coarse in 
appearance for a thoroughbred, a quality that he in- 
herited from his paternal ancestors, he showed some 
most excellent points in his makeup. He had great 
lung capacity, while his loins and quarters, the machin- 
ery by means of which he was propelled, were as good 
as the best. His legs, joints and feet were also above 
criticism. He was a horse of unusual vigor, and pos- 
sessed a very hardy constitution, which he transmitted 
with remarkable uniformity. He was bred by John 
Pratt in England and foaled in 1780. His sire was 
Engineer, by Mambrino, a son of Sampson, by Blaze, 
and he by Flying Childers. The latter was by Darley 
Arabian, and was the fastest race horse in England in 
his day. 

The breeding of Messenger's dam, like that of 
Sampson, has been questioned, but is given as follows : 
By Turf, a son of Matchem, and he by Cade, a son of 
Godolphin Arabian; second dam, sister of Figurante, 
by Regulus, son of Godolphin Arabian; third dam by 
Starling, a son of Bay Bolton, etc. He traces in the 
paternal line directly to Darley Arabian through Mam- 
brino, Engineer, Sampson, Blaze and Flying Childers. 
His pedigree also shows three crosses of Godolphin 
Arabian and five of Byerley Turk. Messenger may not 
have been thoroughbred. He probably was not. He 
was bred for a race horse, however, and although he 

29 



TEE AMERICA!^' TROTTER. 

probably inherited a cold cross from some source not 
far away, he was raced in England with moderate suc- 
cess for several years. He was not as successful upon 
the turf as either his sire, grandsire or great grandsire, 
yet the Racing Calendar shows that he won in all 
eight races, received two forfeits and lost six races. 
He was brought to America in 1788, and as early as 
May that season was advertised to stand for service 
in Philadelphia, Pa. He was used in this country ex- 
clusively for stock purposes, and stood at various 
places in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. 
He died on Long Island, Jan. 28, 1808. He was liber- 
ally patronized from the first, and probably left a more 
numerous progeny than any horse of his day. 

Only a very small proportion of Messenger's get were 
distinguished as race winners. Most of them were 
large, strong, useful horses, and highly prized as gen- 
eral purpose animals. Most of the travel in those days 
was by stage coach, and the get of Messenger were 
very valuable for that use. Many of his sons were kept 
for stock purposes, and his progeny soon became very 
numerous throughout the Middle and some of the East- 
ern States, particularly in Maine, where his son Win- 
throp Messenger did stud service several years. Some 
of Messenger's get showed excellent trotting action, and 
this characteristic was more marked in the get of his 
sons than in animals got by himself, and more in the 
get of his grandsons than in that of his sons. He did 
more in the way of perpetuating the inclination to 
trot than all the other stallions that have ever been 
brought to this country from England or any other 
quarter of the globe. 

30 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

Imported Wildair. We will let Messenger rest 
awhile, and consider the qualities of some of the other 
imported stallions, whose names will be found closely 
linked and blood freely mingled with his, when the 
record-breaking American trotter is reached. One of 
these is Wildair, a bay horse, foaled in 1753, and got 
by Cade, a son of Godolphin Arabian. The dam of 
Wildair was by Steady, he was by the renowned Flying 
Childers, and his dam. Miss Belvoire, was an inbred 
Turk. Pick's 'Turf Kegister" says that "Miss Belvoire 
was allowed to be the best mare of her time that ran at 
Newmarket, where she won the King's plate for mares." 
The second dam of Wildair was by Croft's Partner, 
already mentioned as the best grandson of Byerley 
Turk, and one of the very best horses in England in his 
day. His other ancestors, though well bred, were not 
descendants of either Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian or 
Godolphin Arabian. 

Wildair was raced successfully in England as a four 
and five-year-old. He won an excellent four-mile race 
for horses of all ages, beating by more than a distance 
the Duke of Cumberland's Dan, by Regulus. He was 
bought and brought to this country by James Delancy 
not far from 1765. He was so highly esteemed in Eng- 
land that in 1773 he was bought by the English gentle- 
man, Edward Leedes, Esq., and taken back to that 
country, where he was kept for stock purposes. He got 
several good racers in this country, one of which was 
Slammerkin, the third dam of Messenger's son, Mam- 
brino, that sired Abdallah. The blood of Wildair, 
according to Joseph Battell, Esq., was also an element 
in the dam of Justin Morgan, founder of the noted 



31 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Morgan family of horses. Wildair was the only im- 
ported stallion that the English breeders ever bought 
in America and took back to that country for stock 
purposes. 

Imported Diomed. The next imported horse that 
claims attention, on account of his blood mingling with 
that of imported Messenger in many of the fastest 
American trotters and pacers ever produced, is Dio- 
med. He is described as a solid chestnut, with some 
white on the heel of right hind foot ; stood 15.3 hands, 
had plenty of substance and great muscular power. He 
was bred by Sir Charles Bunbury and foaled in 1777. 
His sire, Florizel, was by the renowned Herod and 
from a daughter of Cygnet, by Godolphin Arabian. 
Diomed's dam was a sister of Juno, a direct descend- 
ant in the paternal line of Alcock's Arabian. The sec- 
ond dam of Diomed was by Blank, and he was by 
Godolphin Arabian, from a daughter of Bartlett's 
Childers, a full brother of the renowned Flying Child 
ers. Diomed's third dam was by Flying Childers, the 
fastest of the get of Darley Arabian, and the most re 
nowned race horse in England in his day. An analy- 
sis of the pedigree of Diomed shows that he inherited 
seven crosses of Darley Arabian, six of Byerley Turk 
and two of Godolphin Arabian. 

Diomed began racing as a three-year-old. He gained 
considerable distinction by winning the first Derby 
ever run in England. There were six other starters in 
this race. He also won four other good races that 
season, and received several forfeits. He was raced 
successfully as a four-year-old. He was on the turf 



32 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

four seasons, but was not so successful the last two 
seasons as the first two, although the last season out 
he won an excellent race for four-mile heats after losing 
the first to Lottery. Diomed went lame in his seven- 
year-old form, and was retired from the turf. He was 
kept for stock purposes in England until 1799, when 
he was sold for fifty guineas, but was bought not long 
afterward by Col. James Hoomes of Virginia for one 
thousand guineas. He died the property of Colonel 
Hoomes in 1808, being then thirty-one years old. 

Though handicapped with an infirmity Diomed was 
more successful in England as a sire and perpetuator 
of race winning speed than was Mambrino, the sire of 
imported Messenger. The eminent author, Frank 
Forester (Henry William Herbert), a native of Eng- 
land and quite familiar with the horse stock, both of 
England and America, makes the following statement 
concerning Diomed in his interesting work entitled 
"The Horse of America," Vol. 1, page 175. 

Diomed, by Florizel; dam by Spectator, — See General Stud 
Book, Page 193 — was a very distinguished racer in England, 
the first winner of the Derby; and as a stallion, although 
placed in competition with Highflyer, Sir Peter Teazle, 
Rockingham, Pegasus, etc., was no less celebrated. 

The above author then gives quite a lengthty list of 
the animals that Diomed got in England, between 1786 
and 1794, one of which he describes as follows : 

Gray Diomed, one of tTie most celebrated horses that ever 
ran in England, afterwards ran with such success in Russia, 
that several of his stock were sent for from that empire. 

The stallions mentioned above with which Diomed 
was placed in competition were considered among the 
most successful sires of racing stock in England in 



THE AMERICA!^ TROTTER. 

their day. Highflyer was never beaten in a race, and 
was got by the renowned Herod. Sir Peter Teazle, 
generally called Sir Peter, was by Highflyer, and his 
dam inherited the blood of Darley Arabian, through 
both Flying Childers and Bartlett's Childers, also the 
blood of Godolphin Arabian, through his son Regulus, 
a horse that was never beaten in a race. Rockingham 
was also by Highflyer, and from a daughter of Cade, by 
Godolphin Arabian; next dam by Squirt, the son of 
Blaze, by Flying Childers, that got Marske, sire of the 
unbeaten English Eclipse, and Pegasus was a son of 
the renowned Eclipse. 

As already stated, Diomed was sold in England at 
the ridiculously low price of fifty guineas. This low 
price was due to the fact that the horse was unsound. 
Colonel Hoomes evidently had great confidence in 
Diomed's ability as a sire, however, for he paid one 
thousand guineas for the son of Florizel in 1799, when 
the horse was twenty-two years old, and had him 
shipped to America. Col. Hoomes was a resident of 
Virginia, and the horse did stud service in that State 
until his death, which occurred in the same year as 
that of imported Messenger, The fact that Diomed 
proved the most successful sire of racing speed in 
America in his day, shows that Colonel Hoomes did not 
overestimate his ability as a sire of race winners. 
Among the best of his get were Sir Archy, Ball's Flori- 
zel, Potomac (that broke the two-mile record) , Top Gal- 
lant, Hamlintonian, Stump the Dealer, Hampton and 
Truxton. The latter was owned by President Andrew 
Jackson, and was more highly prized by him than any 
other of the several race horses that he ever owned. 



34 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

Col. S. D. Bruce, the best authority on American 
thoroughbreds, says that Florizel, by Diomed, had no 
equal in his day. He never lost a heat or paid a forfeit, 
and never felt the touch of whip or spur. The best of 
Diomed's get, however, was Sir Archy. The late John 
H. Wallace paid Sir Archy the compliment of being the 
"Godolphin Arabian of America." Sir Archy was 
beaten a few times when first raced, on account of sick- 
ness, but when he was four years old and fully recov- 
ered Sir Archy beat the best that he met so easily that 
his owners offered to match him for a large sum against 
any horse in the world in a four-mile heat race, and 
meet his competitor half way. The challenge was not 
accepted. 

The relative rank of Diomed as a sire in this country 
is best shown by four tables published in 1844, by J. S. 
Skinner, author of Skinner's American Turf Register. 
These tables give the time made in the best races ever 
won in America from the earliest racing to the close of 
1843, at one, two, three and four miles. The table of 
best records for one mile includes eighteen races. The 
winners of fourteen of these eighteen races trace di- 
rectly in the paternal line to imported Diomed, and the 
winners of two of the other eighteen were from dams 
that were direct descendants of Diomed through their 
sires. The table of best races at two-mile heats con- 
tains thirty-one races. The winners of twenty-one of 
these were direct descendants in the male line of im- 
ported Diomed. The winners of two of the others were 
from dams that trace directly to Diomed through their 
sires. The third table contains twenty-four of the best 
races for three-mile heats. The winners of sixteen of 



35 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

these twenty-four races were by sires that were direct 
descendants of Diomed, and the winners of four of the 
others were from mares whose sires trace directly to 
Diomed in the paternal line. The table of best races at 
four-mile heats includes seventeen races. Animals 
that trace directly to Diomed through their sires won 
ten of these seventeen races, and three of the other 
winners were produced by mares that were direct de- 
scendants of Diomed. Here are ninety of the best races 
that were run in America up to 1844, and the winners 
of sixty-one, or a fraction more than two-thirds of 
them, were direct descendants of old Diomed, while the 
winners of eleven of the others were from mares that 
trace directly to Diomed through their sires, making a 
total of seventy-two out of ninety, or eighty per cent., 
of all these winners that carried the blood of the old 
Derby winner. 

It seems almost incredible that a horse which was 
imported to this country in 1799, when twenty-two 
years old, could have so far surpassed all the other 
stallions in America as a progenitor of superior race 
horses, but such is the fact. Some have attempted to 
account for the remarkable showing made by Diomed's 
get, on the ground that there had been but few thor- 
oughbreds imported up to the time that Diomed did 
stud service in America, The writer has carefully 
examined the list of thoroughbred stallions and mares 
that were imported to this country up to and including 
the year 1802. Diomed had then been in this country 
three years, and lived six years longer. The total 
number of thoroughbred stallions, which had been im- 
ported up to and including 1802, was two hundred and 

36 



TEE ENGLISH RAGE HORSE. 

thirty, and one hundred and one of them were imported 
into Virginia, the State where Diomed did stud service. 
This number does not include several stallions that 
were imported previous to that date, and which were 
claimed to be thoroughbred, but whose names do not 
appear in the General Stud Book. Neither does it in- 
clude a few that died shortly after landing, and before 
doing stud service in America. The total number of 
thoroughbred mares which had been imported up to 
that date was eighty-two, and forty-four of these were 
located in Virginia. This shows most conclusively 
that it was Diomed's superior merit rather than the 
lack of thoroughbred stallions in this country, and 
especially in Virginia, that enabled him, in forty-four 
years after landing in America, to beat all the other 
sires by a fraction more than two to one, as a progeni- 
tor of winners of the best races that had ever been run 
in America up to the close of 1848. The name of Dio- 
med is found more frequently in the pedigrees of record 
breaking runners, trotters and pacers in this country 
than is that of any other animal. 

Other Imported Stallions. Morton's Traveller was 
a bay horse, foaled in 1747. His sire was Croft's Part- 
ner, the best son of Jigg, by Byerley Turk. The dam of 
Traveller derived most of her inheritance from Barbs, 
Arabians and Turks, but none of it came from Byerley 
Turk, Darley Arabian or Godolphin Arabian, Travel- 
ler's progeny were the best racers that were bred in 
Virginia in his day. He got Lloyd's Traveller, and 
the latter got True Briton, that sired the noted Justin 
Morgan, founder of the celebrated Morgan family of 
roadsters and trotters. 



37 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Sour Grout was a bay horse foaled in 1786. His sire 
was the unbeaten Highflyer, by Herod, a direct de- 
scendant of Byerley Turk. The dam of Herod, as has 
already been stated, was inbred to Barley Arabian. 
Highflyer, as already stated, was never beaten in a 
race, and he sired three winners of the Derby. The 
dam of Highflyer was by Blank, a son of Godolphin 
Arabian, and his second dam was by Regulus, another 
son of Godolphin Arabian. The dam of Sour Grout 
was Jewel, by Squirrel ; second dam by Blank, a son of 
Godolphin Arabian ; third dam by Second, a son of Fly- 
ing Ghilders, by Darley Arabian, and fourth dam by 
Basto, a son of Byerley Turk. By this it will be seen 
that Sour Grout was inbred to the three distinguished 
horses, Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin 
Arabian, to which the English thoroughbred is so 
largely indebted for his superior speed and other valua- 
ble racing qualities. A daughter of Sour Grout was 
mated with imported Messenger, and the produce was 
Mambrino, that got Abdallah, sire of Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian. Mambrino also got Mambrino Paymaster, 
sire of Mambrino Ghief. Mambrino will receive more 
attention later on, but it will be well to bear in mind 
the inheritance of Sour Grout, sire of his dam. 

Imported Bellfounder was a Norfolk trotter that 
was brought to Boston in 1822. He was a compactly 
made, round barrelled, strong quartered, smoothly 
turned horse, and a remarkably good gaited trotter. 
His sire. Old Bellfounder, was by Pretender, son of 
Fireaway, by Driver, he by Shales, a son of Blaze, by 
the famous Flying Ghilders, the fastest of the get of 
the Darley Arabian. The dam of Old Bellfounder (sire 

38 



THE ENGLISH RAGE HORSE. 

of imported Bellfounder) was by Smuggler, a son of 
Hue and Cry, by Scott Shales, and he by Shales, a son 
of the Blaze, by Flying Childers, named above. The 
sire of imported Bellfounder was inbred to Blaze, that 
got Sampson, the great grandsire of imported Messen- 
ger. Imported Bellfounder is chiefly distinguished as 
the sire of the Charles Kent mare, that produced Rys- 
dyk's Hambletonian. 

Imported Trustee was a chestnut horse, foaled in 
1829, and imported into New Jersey in 1835. His sire 
was Catton, and Catton was by Golumpus; dam, Lucy 
Gray, by Timothy, he by Highflyer, described above, 
and his dam a daughter of Blank, by Godolphin Ara- 
bian. The second dam of Catton (sire of imported 
Trustee) was Lucy, whose sire was Florizel, the son of 
Herod, that got imported Diomed ; Catton's third dam 
was Frenzy, by the invincible Eclipse, and his fourth 
dam was by Engineer, the grandsire of imported Mes- 
senger, his fifth dam being by Blank, son of Godolphin 
Arabian. It will be observed that some of the blood 
elements of the dam of Catton, the sire of imported 
Trustee, were kindred to those of both imported Mes- 
senger and imported Diomed, a fact which it will be 
well to bear in mind, as the Trustee blood nicked re- 
markably well with that of both Messenger and Dio- 
med, as will be shown later. Golumpus, the sire of 
Catton, was by Gohanna, and his dam was by Wood- 
pecker, a son of the famous Herod, whose blood ele- 
ments, as already stated, combined the blood of Byer- 
ley Turk and Darley Arabian. Gohanna was by Mer- 
cury; dam by Matchem, a son of Cade, by Godolphin 
Arabian, and Mercury was by the world-renowned 

39 



TEE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Eclipse, his dam being a daughter of Tartar, the sire of 
Herod. The blood of Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian 
and Godolphin Arabian was closely interwoven in both 
the sire and dam of imported Trustee. 

Imported Margrave was a chestnut horse, foaled in 
1829, and brought to this country in 1835. He was 
foaled the same year, and also imported the same 
year as Trustee. His sire was Muley, by Orville, a 
son of Beningbrough, and he by King Fergus, a son 
of the renowned Eclipse. The dam of Muley was by 
Whiskey, and he by Saltram, son of Eclipse. His sec- 
ond dam was the famous brood mare Young Giantess, 
by Diomed; third dam, by Matchem; son of Cade, by 
Godolphin Arabian; fourth dam by Babraham, son of 
Godolphin Arabian, beyond which is a cross of Byerley 
Turk, through Croft's Partner. The dam of Orville 
was by Highflyer, one of the best sons of Herod. He 
got Sour Crout, sire of the dam of Mambrino. The 
latter was the sire of Abdallah, etc. The next dam of 
Orville was by Sampson, the son of Blaze, that got 
Engineer, and he in turn got Mambrino, the sire of 
Imported Messenger. The next dam of Orville was by 
Regulus, a son of Godolphin Arabian. It will be seen 
by the above that the sire of imported Margrave de- 
rived a large share of his inheritance from Byerley 
Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Arabian. The 
dam of Margrave was by Election, a son of Gohanna, 
and he by Mercury, a son of the famous Eclipse. This 
Gohanna, it will be remembered, was the great grand- 
sire in the paternal line of imported Trustee. The 
second dam of Margrave was by Hambletonian. This 

40 . 






^ 



THE ENGLISH RACE HORSE. 

Hambletonian was by King Fergus, a son of the re- 
nowned Eclipse, and his dam was by Highflyer, al- 
ready mentioned several times. His second dam was 
by Matchem, a famous son of Cade, by Godolphin 
Arabian. His third dam was by Delpini, a son of 
Highflyer; his fourth dam by Phenomenon, a son of 
Herod. The dam of Phenomenon was Frenzy, by the 
famous Eclipse, and Frenzy's dam was by Engineer, 
the grandsire of imported Messenger. The blood of 
imported Margrave nicked remarkably well with that 
of imported Messenger, and when the blood elements 
of the two horses are compared side by side, it will not 
be surprising to the student of the breeding problem 
that such was the case, for Messenger and Margrave 
had several strains of blood in common, other than 
those that they inherited through Sampson, the grand- 
sire of Engineer. 

Imported Glencoe was a golden chestnut in color, 
with both hind legs white, half way to the hocks, and 
a large star in the forehead. He was foaled in 1831. 
His sire. Sultan, traced straight to the renowned Herod 
through both sire and dam, and was also inbred to the 
unbeaten Eclipse. Glencoe's dam. Trampoline, traced 
directly to the famous Eclipse, both through her own 
sire and the sire of her dam. A careful analysis of 
the tabulated pedigree of Glencoe shows that he in- 
herited no less than thirty-eight crosses of Godolphin 
Arabian, twenty-six of Darley Arabian and twenty - 
two of Byerley Turk. He first appeared on the 
turf as a three-year-old, and raced with fair 
success for two seasons. In 1835, Mr. James 
Jackson, a resident of the State of Alabama, 



41 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

sent an order to England to purchase the best stallion 
in the market. He named Plenipotentiary, Priam and 
Gleneoe. The latter was bought for a large price, and 
was allowed to do stud service in England a part of 
the season of 1836, after which he was brought to 
Jackson, Alabama. 

Consternation was foaled in 1841, and imported to 
America in 1846. He was a direct descendant in the 
paternal line of Godolphin Arabian, to which he was 
considerably inbred. He was also strongly inbred to 
Byerley Turk through Herod. He traced several times 
to the latter through Highflyer and twice through old 
Diomed. He was also considerably inbred to Darley 
Arabian, to which he traced twice through the famous 
Eclipse and once through Sampson, the great grandsire 
of imported Messenger. 

Imported Bonnie Scotland was a bay horse, foaled in 
1853. He was very strongly inbred to Darley Arabian, 
to which he traced no less than ten times through the 
famous Eclipse, and also twice through Engineer, the 
grandsire of imported Messenger. His pedigree shows 
numerous crosses of Byerley Turk, many of which were 
through Highflyer, one of the best sons of the re- 
nowned Herod. He also traces to Herod once through 
the famous brood mare Young Giantess, by old Diomed, 
and again through Fancy, a full sister of Diomed 
His pedigree also shows that he inherited no less than 
thirty-four crosses of renowned Godolphin Arabian. 

There were other imported horses whose names are 
occasionally found in the pedigrees of noted trotters, 
but with the exception of imported Paymaster, Expe- 
dition and Magnum Bonum, they do not occur with 



42 



THE ENGLISH FACE HORSE. 

sufficient frequency to warrant the belief that they 
contributed greatly either to their speed, gameness or 
endurance. Both Paymaster and Magnum Bonum 
were inbred to Godolphin Arabian. They also inherited 
the blood of both Byerley Turk and Darley Arabian. 
With the blood lines before us of the imported horses 
that have played an important part in that wonderful 
family of horses, we are now prepared to consider the 
American trotter. 



43 



Chapter II. 
THE EARLIEST TROTTERS. 



Boston Blue. — Screwdriver. — Top Gallant. — Whalebone. — 
Dutchman. — Lady Suffolk and Others. 

The first animal to gain a national reputation as a 
trotter in this country was called Boston Blue. It is 
a matter of history that in 1818 Boston Blue was 
matched for |1,000 to trot a mile against time in three 
minutes. The horse won, and the performance at that 
time was considered nearly as wonderful as was that 
of Lou Dillon when she trotted a mile in two minutes 
at Readville in 1903. What would those who wit- 
nessed the performance of Boston Blue have thought 
had some one then predicted that in eighty-five years 
from that time an animal would trot a mile on a cir- 
cular course in two minutes? 

Boston Blue is described as a rat-tailed, iron gray 
gelding, about 16 hands high, but his breeding has 
never been made public. It is probable that he was a 
descendant of imported Messenger, very likely a grand- 
son. He possessed great endurance. It is stated upon 
good authority that on several occasions he was driven 
from New York to Philadelphia in a day, and made 



U 



THE EARLIEST TROTTERS. 

the return trip in another day. He was finally taken 
to England, and there trotted eight miles in 28 minutes 
and 55 seconds. He also won several races at shorter 
distances. 

It would appear by a table, published by the late J. 
H. Wallace, in Vol. 1 of his Year Book, issued in 1885, 
that a horse called Yankee trotted a mile in 2.59, on 
a half-mile track at Harlem, N. Y., in 1806, and that 
a chestnut gelding called Boston Horse trotted a mile 
in 2.48 1-2 at Philadelphia, Pa., in August, 1810. This 
table in which these names appear is the last of a 
series of tables found near the end of every Year Book, 
and is headed, ^'Fastest Records at Different Decades 
Since 1800." In that table the gray gelding Boston 
Blue is represented as a black gelding, and his name 
is given as Bolton Blue. It is probable that Yankee 
and Boston Horse, with the performances given in that 
table, existed only in the imagination of the author. 
It is also evident that the same author inserted Bolton 
Blue, black gelding, instead of Boston Blue, gray geld- 
ing, for a purpose known to himself, and not 
through an unintentional error. We would respect- 
fully suggest to those who have charge of the Year 
Book that it would be well to investigate that table 
and change it so as to correspond with facts. 

After the trotting ball was set rolling by Boston 
Blue in 1818, it rapidly gained momentum. Within 
ten years from that time trotting sport in the North 
had become somewhat common and quite popular. Its 
popularity, though interrupted by occasional seasons 
of depression, has continued to increase until it has 
now become recognized as the national sport of the 



45 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

United States, and has also gained a strong foothold 
among our worthy neighbors in some sections of 
Canada. 

But little attention was paid at first to the blood 
lines of the earliest American trotters. When the ped- 
igrees of the most noted of the early ones, such as 
Screw Driver, Top Gallant, Dutchman, Whalebone, 
Betsy Baker, Fanny Pullen, Daniel D. Tompkins and 
Lady Suffolk were investigated, the majority of them 
were found to be descendants of imported Messenger. 
Their sires were either sons or grandsons of Messenger 
and the most of them were inbred to the gray son of 
Mambrino. It is universally conceded by all well- 
posted, unprejudiced horsemen, that Messenger trans- 
mitted through his sons a stronger inclination to stick 
to the trotting gait than any other horse in America 
in his day. He was really the foundation of the 
unequalled American trotter of the present day, as 
will be shown later on. 

The history of the descendants of the old-time trot- 
ters mentioned above would make an interesting chap- 
ter. It was fully related by the master reinsman, 
Hiram Woodruff, years ago, in a series of articles that 
first appeared in the Spirit of the Times, and later in 
book form under the title of "The Trotting Horse of 
America." Some old men have asserted that Hiram 
Woodruff never wrote those articles. It is true that 
he did not put them on paper with his pen. This was 
done by the late Charles J. Foster. Hiram Woodruff 
furnished the ideas, however, and the facts related 
were from his own personal knowledge and experience. 
He had a personal knowledge of all the horses that he 

46 



THE EARLIEST TROTTERS. 

described. Most of them had been trained or driven 
by him, and he had driven in races against the others. 
The matter in the body of that work was all submitted 
to and approved by Hiram Woodruff before it was 
published. Subsequent investigation showed that the 
breeding of a few of the animals, Top Gallant and 
Dutchman, for instance, were not given correctly, but 
it was given as had been represented. 

Top Gallant. The old-time trotters possessed re- 
markable stamina. One of the most noted of the early 
ones was Top Gallant, a bay gelding foaled about 1810. 
In Hiram Woodruff's work Top Gallant was mentioned 
as a son of imported Messenger. Careful investiga- 
tion, however, disclosed the fact that he was by Cor- 
iander, a son of imported Messenger, and that his dam 
was by Bishop's Hambletonian. The latter was also 
by imported Messenger, and his dam was Pheasant, a 
thoroughbred daughter of imported Shark. The latter 
was by Marske, the sire of English Eclipse. The dam 
of Shark was by Snap, a son of Snip, by Flying Child- 
ers. The second dam of Shark was by Marlborough, 
a son of Godolphin Arabian. The second dam of 
Bishop's Hambletonian was by imported Medley. Top 
Gallant was first raced as a runner, but finally became 
a remarkable trotter. He was more than fourteen 
years old when it was discovered that he could trot 
fast. Most of his trotting races were from two to 
four mile heats. When twenty-four years old he was 
able to give the best trotters of that time all they could 
do to beat him, though he had a spavin on each hock. 
He won several races of three and four mile heats 
after he was twenty years old. One of Top Gallant's 



47 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

most troublesome competitors was Whalebone, and he, 
too, was an inbred Messenger, 

Whalebone. Whalebone was by Bishop's Hamble- 
tonian, mentioned above as the sire of Top Gallant's 
dam. The dam of Whalebone was by Coffin's Messen- 
ger, he by imported Messenger and from a daughter of 
Feather. The latter was by imported Light Infantry, 
and he by famous English Eclipse. Top Gallant and 
Whalebone were the best trotters of their day. About 
the time that their racing careers ended, or their trot- 
ting powers began to wane, a greater than either of 
them appeared. This was Dutchman. 

Dutchman. The famous trainer, Hiram Woodruff, 
spoke of Dutchman as follows: "For the combined 
excellence of speed, bottom and constitutional vigor 
equal to the carrying on of a long campaign, and im- 
proving on it, he has had few, if any, equals, and cer- 
tainly no superior. His time for three miles still 
stands the best on record." 

Dutchman made a three-mile record against time of 
7.32 1-2 to saddle at Beacon Course, N. J., August 1, 
1839, and it still stands as the world's three-mile 
champion trotting record to saddle. The renowned 
Flora Temple (2.19 3-4) tried to beat it, but failed. 
The breeding of Dutchman was not known until after 
Hiram Woodruff's book was published. Through the 
investigations of the late J. H. Wallace it was finally 
brought to light, and he, too, proved to be an inbred 
Messenger. His sire, Tippoo Saib, Jr., was by a horse 
called Engineer, and this Engineer was by the gray 
son of imported Messenger that was known as Mam- 
briho and also as Foxhunter. The dam of Dutchman 



48 



THE EARLIEST TROTTERS. 

was also by this same Mambrino (Foxhunter). The 
dam of this Mambrino, that got Engineer, sire of Tip- 
poo Saib, Jr., was by Pulaski, a thoroughbred son of 
Whynot. The latter was a son of imported Fear- 
naught. The second dam of Mambrino was by Wilkes, 
a thoroughbred son of imported Figure. His third 
dam was by True Briton, a thoroughbred son of im- 
ported Othello. This gray Mambrino must not be 
confounded with the bay son of Messenger by that 
name, which got Abdallah. 

Lady Suffolk (2.29 1-2). About the time that 
Dutchman's fame as a trotter was at its height, LaiJy 
Suffolk appeared, and she was the first trotter to take 
a record of 2.30 or better, to harness. This wonderful 
mare was raced for fifteen consecutive seasons, and 
won in all eighty-three races. She made a record of 
2.29 1-2 to harness, in a race against Moscow, at the 
Beacon Course, New Jersey, October 13, 1845. She 
won the first, second and fifth heats of that race in 
2.34, 2.29 1-2, 2.36. Moscow got the third and fourth 
heats in 2.30, 2.34. Lady Suffolk took a record of 
2.26 1-2 to saddle in the first heat of a race that she 
won at the Beacon Course, New Jersey, July 12, 1843. 
All of her races during the first five years were from 
two to four-mile heats. Lady Suffolk was the Gold- 
smith Maid of her day, so far as speed and endurance 
were concerned, and, like Goldsmith Maid, she Was 
raced and won when several years older than most 
horses are at the time they are retired. All her races 
were against other horses. She was never started 
against the watch. Like Top Gallant, Whalebone and 
Dutchman, Lady Suffolk was an inbred Messenger. 

49 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

She was foaled in 1833. Her sire was Engineer 2d, 
a son of Engineer, by imported Messenger. The dam 
of Engineer 2d was by Plato, a thoroughbred son of 
imported Messenger. Plato was a full brother of 
Bishop's Hambletonian. The second dam of Engineer 
2d was by Rainbow, a son of the noted thoroughbred, 
imported Wildair, the horse that after standing in this 
country for several years was bought by an English 
breeder of thoroughbred racing stock and taken back 
to England again for stock purposes. The dam of 
Lady Suffolk was by Don Quixote, a son of imported 
Messenger, and her second dam was by Rainbow, sire 
of the second dam of Engineer 2d. It will be seen by 
the above that Lady Suffolk inherited three crosses 
from imported Messenger. There were other fast trot- 
ters in those early days that were not known to be 
descendants of imported Messenger, but no two of them 
could be traced back to a common ancestor, as could 
the four named above, and several more like Fanny 
Pullen, Daniel D. Tompkins and Betsy Baker, all quite 
famous trotters in their day, and all by sons of im- 
ported Messenger. 

No two of these noted Messenger trotters were by the 
same sire. The two that were most closely related 
were Top Gallant and Whalebone. The latter was by 
Bishop's Hambletonian, and so was the dam of Top 
Gallant. It is a fact worthy of note, and especially 
interesting to students of the breeding problem, that 
Engineer 2d, sire of the old time world's champion 
trotter. Lady Suffolk, had a very similar blood inheri- 
tance to that of old Top Gallant. The latter, as al- 
ready stated, was by Coriander, a son of Messenger, 

50 



THE EARLIEST T ROTTERS. - 

and his dam was by Bishop's Hambletonian, another 
son of Messenger. The dam of Coriander (sire of Top 
Gallant) was by Allen's Brown Figure, and his second 
dam was by Rainbow, a son of imported Wildair. En- 
gineer 2d, as above stated, was by Engineer, a son 
of imported Messenger. His dam was by Plato, and 
his second dam, like that of Coriander, was by Rain- 
bow, the son of imported Wildair, that got the second 
dam of Top Gallant's sire, Coriander. Plato, that got 
the dam of Engineer 2d, was a full brother of Bishop's 
Hambletonian, sire of the dam of Top Gallant. 



r 



51 



Chapter III. 
HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 



Mambrino and Old Abdallah. — Rysdyk's Hambletonian. — Elec- 
tioneer. — George Wilkes. — Happy Medium. — Alexander's 
Abdallah. — Volunteer. — Harold. — Dictator. — Aberdeen. — 
Egbert. — Strathmore. — Other Sons of Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian. 

Mambrino and Old Abdallah. The first stallion to 
sire two trotters with records of 2.30 or better was old 
Abdallah, and he also got Rysdyk's Hambletonian, 
founder of the greatest family of trotters that the 
world has ever known or is ever likely to know. Ab- 
dallah was an angular, flat-sided horse, with a coarse 
head, long, heavy ear, straight neck and rat tail, was 
straight hipped and light quartered, or cat hammed, 
as described to the writer several years ago by a man 
who was a good judge of conformation, and who took 
care of the horse in 1849. Though unattractive in 
general appearance, all horsemen who knew Abdallah 
agreed that he showed lots of quality. He was a bay 
in color, with black points, and his coat was fine, short 
and glossy. His muscles were of fine grain, his bone 
of dense, ivory-like texture, his joints firm and sound, 
his legs clean and flat, with the cords, and tendons 

52 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

standing out prominently, and he had good feet. Ab- 
dallah was never broken to harness, but was a clean, 
open-gaited trotter to saddle, and stood nearly 15.3 at 
the withers. He was foaled in 1823. His sire was 
Mambrino, a running bred son of imported Messenger. 
His dam, Amazonia, was a large, angular, raw-boned, 
coarse-headed, long-eared, flat-sided mare, not attrac- 
tive when standing still, but a good-gaited, level-headed 
and very fast trotter for her time. The man who sold 
her as a four-year-old represented her to be a Messen- 
ger. She surely had the Messenger characteristics 
very strongly in gait, and strong circumstantial evi- 
dence indicates most conclusively that she was either 
by Saratoga, a son of Messenger, or by Dove, a son of 
Saratoga. It has been asserted by some who made a 
careful study of the facts that Abdallah derived more 
of his trotting quality from his dam, Amazonia, than 
from his sire, Mambrino. He certainly bore a stronger 
resemblance to his dam than his sire in general appear- 
ance. Amazonia was described as "a, road mare of 
great distinction." Many who knew her said "without 
an equal in her day." 

Mambrino. Mambrino, the sire of Abdallah, was 
a 16-hand bay, with star in forehead, and one white 
ankle behind. He was got by imported Messenger, 
and was foaled in 1806. His dam was by imported 
Sour Grout, he by Highflyer, and he by Herod. The 
second dam of Mambrino was by imported Whirligig; 
third dam, the famous Miss Slammerkin (also called 
Slammerkin and old Slammerkin), by imported 
Wildair; the fourth dam, the imported Cub Mare, by 
Cub. Mambrino was bred for a race horse, but for 



53 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

some cause did not race successfully. It may have 
been due to the influence of a cold cross, somewhere 
along the line of Messenger's remote ancestors. He 
was a good-gaited natural trotter, however, as will be 
seen by the following statement of Major William 
Jones, who bought Mambrino from his breeder when 
a four-year-old colt : "I have been the breeder of some, 
and the owner of many horses, and with the best op- 
portunities of judging, having ridden him (he was 
never driven) many, many miles. I say with entire 
confidence, he was the best natural trotter I ever 
threw a leg over. His walk was free, flinging and 
elastic; his trot clear, square and distinct, with a 
beautiful roll of the knee and great reach of the 
hind leg." 

Mambrino imparted the trotting action and trotting 
inclination to several of his offspring. The fastest of 
his get by the records was the old-time trotting mare, 
Betsy Baker, that took a record of 2.43 1-2 in the third 
heat of a race which she won at Centreville, L. I., 
October 5, 1842. Three of Mambrino's sons sired 
founders of trotting families, viz : Abdallah, Mam- 
brino Paymaster and Almack. Abdallah sired three 
trotters and one pacer that made records in 2.30 or 
better, viz: the trotters. Sir Walter (2.27), Frank 
Forrester (2.30), and O'Blennis (2.30), and the pacer, 
Ben Higdon (2.27). At one time during his life Ab- 
dallah was the most popular trotting sire then living. 
He was taken to Lexington, Ky., in the winter of 1840, 
but the breeders there did not appreciate him, and he 
received so little patronage that he was returned to 
New York. He received but little patronage after 



54 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

coming back from Kentucky. The man who took care 
of him at one time stated to the writer that the cause 
of his lack of patronage late in life was the fact that 
many of his get, though good-gaited trotters, were in- 
clined to pull too strongly on the bit when speeding 
on the road for the comfort of their drivers. It is 
said that the owner of Abdallah finally gave the horse 
to a farmer on Long Island, with the understanding 
that the farmer should care for the horse properly as 
long as the animal lived. The farmer became tired of 
his bargain, so the story goes, and sold the old horse 
to a fish peddler for thirty-five dollars. The fish broker 
hitched Abdallah to his cart, but the horse did not take 
kindly to that occupation and kicked himself free. 
The peddler then turned Abdallah loose, and he finally 
died on Long Island from neglect and starvation. 

Several of the daughters of Abdallah were successful 
as producers of trotting speed. Seven of them in all 
produced standard trotters, and one of these trotters 
was the renowned Goldsmith Maid (2.14). Abdallah's 
daughters were very successful as producers of sires of 
standard speed. They produced in all thirty-two stal- 
lions that were the sires of 2.30 performers. 

Rysdyk's Hambletonian. The most distinguished 
of Abdallah's get was Rysdyk's Hambletonian, the 
greatest trotting progenitor that ever lived, and foun- 
der of the renowned Hambletonian family of trotters. 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian was bred by Jonas Seely of 
Sugar Loaf, Orange County, N. Y., and foaled in 1849. 
His sire was Abdallah, by Mambrino, and his dam was 
the Charles Kenf Mare, by imported Bellfounder, 
whose breeding has already been given. The second 



55 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

dam of Eysdyk's Hambletonian was One Eye, by 
Bishop's Hambletonian, the running bred son of im- 
ported Messenger, that got the noted old-time trotter 
Whalebone, and also got the dam of that other famous 
old-time trotter, Top Gallant. This Bishop's Hamble- 
tonian was among the most successful of the get of 
imported Messenger as a race horse, and also as a sire 
of trotters. The third dam of Rysdyk's Hambletonian 
was Silvertail, by imported Messenger. His fourth 
dam was Jin Black, a large, clean-limbed, powerful 
black mare, with a bald face and two white feet. The 
breeding of Jin Black has never been made public. 
She had the appearance and characteristics of a thor- 
oughbred. When young she was so "high strung" that 
she was inclined to be "contrary" and balky, but this 
infirmity was overcome by kind treatment, and she 
was finally induced to work kindly, doing general 
work on a farm, but the man who handled her said 
"they at first had to get an extra strong set of iron 
traces to prevent her from breaking them every day." 
Jin Black must have been an extra good mare and 
highly prized, or Mr. Seely would not have sent her 
to imported Messenger. Her daughter, Silvertail, by 
Messenger, was a very superior animal, and possessed 
remarkable endurance. 

Mr. Jonas Seely, a man of unquestioned veracity, is 
authority for the statement that on several occasions 
Silvertail was ridden to saddle one hundred miles in a 
day, by his father; and on one occasion when he (Jonas 
Seely) was about ten years old, she carried his father 
to saddle with him up behind seventy-five miles in a 
dav. It has never been stated that Silvertail possessed 



56 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HI,^ SONS. 

good trotting action or showed any inclination to stick 
to the trotting gait, but it has been stated upon the 
best of authority that she would gallop all day. This 
Silvertail, a daughter of imported Messenger and Jin 
Black, was mated with Bishop's Hambletonian, a run- 
ning bred son of imported Messenger, and one of his 
most successful sons, both as a race winner and sire 
of trotting speed, and the produce was a brown filly, 
somewhat wilful, "rather hard to manage, when they 
came to break her." During the breaking process she 
had a stubborn fit one day, and her breaker knocked 
out one of her eyes, hence she was named One Eye. 

Mr. Jonas Seely does not say anything about the 
trotting inclination or trotting action of One Eye. He 
did say, however, to the late J. H. Wallace, that Mr. 
Josiah Jackson, a brother-in-law of Mr. Seely, had her 
mated with the Norfolk trotter, imported Bellfounder, 
and the produce, the Charles Kent Mare, "showed a 
fine step as a trotter, and was sold to go to New York 
city at a good price." When this Charles Kent Mare 
was three years old her breeder, Mr. Jackson, sold her 
to Peter Seely for three hundred dollars. Mr. Seely 
sold her to a Mr. Pray for four hundred dollars; Mr. 
Pray sold her to a Mr. Chivers, a butcher in New York 
city, for five hundred dollars, and Mr. Chivers sold 
her to a New York banker for six hundred dollars. 
The banker drove her on the road until she finally got 
a hip knocked down, and was pretty badly used up. 
She was lame, and unfit for road use, and in this con- 
dition was sold to Charles Kent. After this she was 
known as the Charles Kent Mare, and was used for 
breeding purposes. In 1845 Mr. Kent sold this mare 

57 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

with a foal at foot, by Webber's Tom Thumb. He re- 
ceived for the mare and foal one hundred and thirty- 
five dollars. This mare produced three foals by 
Abdallah, two of which died before reaching maturity. 
The third, foaled in 1849, was the renowned Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian. In the summer of 1849, Mr. Seely sold 
the Charles Kent mare and her foal to William Rysdyk, 
who paid |125 for the two. Mr. Rysdyk was then a young 
man, and in moderate financial circumstances, but this 
colt finally brought him quite a handsome fortune. 

It appears from what has already been stated, that 
every one of the blood lines of Rysdyk's Hambletonian 
that is known came from good running bred ancestors, 
most of which were descendants of the Byerley Turk, 
the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian. He 
was very closely inbred to imported Messenger. His 
sire was undoubtedly inbred to imported Messenger, 
and his dam was from a mare that was certainly close- 
ly inbred to that horse. 

Rysdyk's Hambletonian was a bay in color with 
tilack points, a star in the forehead and two white 
socks behind. He stood about 15.1 1-2 hands high at 
the withers, and considerably higher at the hips. His 
head was large and bony, his muzzle a trifle coarse, the 
profile of his face somewhat on the Roman order, and 
his ears quite large. He had a full, intelligent eye, 
and a forehead that indicated ample brain capacity. 
His neck was only of medium length, fairly clean at 
the jowls, and well set upon oblique and strongly 
muscled shoulders. His nostrils and windpipe were 
large, indicating good lung capacity. His withers 
were low and heavily muscled, making them somewhat 

58 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

thick and round instead of sharp. His barrel was 
long and as round as a log. He had a good back and 
coupling, long, smoothly rounded hips, a straight 
croup, tail set high, powerfully muscled quarters, 
strong gaskins, and clean, sound joints and limbs. 
Though his hind legs did not drop straight from the 
hock to the ground, they were not of the sickle con- 
formation. He had a beautiful glossy coat, and his 
muscle was of the compact, fine-grained quality. 

Rysdyk's Hambletonian was a natural, square-gaited 
trotter. He was handled some for speed as a three- 
year-old, and it was stated upon good authority that 
in the fall of his three-year-old form he trotted a mile 
in public in 2.48. It has been stated by parties 
who were unfriendly to the horse that the time of 
this mile was 3.12, but at least one reliable man, who 
timed the mile, said it was trotted in 2.48, and this 
man was not a partisan of the horse. He was never 
trained for speed after that season. A horseman of 
large experience and excellent judgment in regard to 
speed, who knew Rysdyk's Hambletonian well, and had 
ridden behind him, has stated that the horse could, 
and, in his judgment, did show a 2.40 clip hitched to 
road wagon. It is not of the slightest consequence, 
however, at this late day, whether he was a fast trotter 
or not. His services were in such demand that his 
speed could not have been developed any after he was 
three years old. The Year Book shows that he sur- 
passed all other stallions of his day in transmitting and 
perpetuating the inclination to stick to the trotting gait. 

Hambletonian possessed a remarkably hardy consti- 
tution, and few horses that ever lived have exhibited 



59 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

equal vigor, or left 8o large a number of foals. He 
began his stud career when but two years old, and 
with the exception of the season of 1868, when he was 
nineteen years old and sick, he continued to do stud 
duty until his death, which occurred at Chester, N. Y., 
March 27, 1876. The following table shows the enor- 
mous patronage that he received during his life. This 
table was published in J. H. Sanders' work entitled 
"Horse Breeding," and is believed to have been copied 
from Hambletonian's stud book, as kept by the owner 
of the horse. Mares. Per cent. Foals Service 

Years. covered. of foals. dropped. fee. 

1851 4 75 3 Free. 

1852 17 76 13 $25 

1853 1«1 78 78 25 

1854 88 70 62 35 

1855 89 72 64 35 

1856 87 73 64 35 

1857 87 72 63 35 

1858 72 75 54 35 

1859 95 70 66 35 

1860 106 68 72 35 

1861 98 69 68 35 

1862 T58 70 111 35 

1863 150 61 92 75 

1864 217 67 148 100 

1865 193 67 128 300 

1866 105 71 75 500 

1867 72 58 42 500 

1868 

1869 22 81 18 500 

1870 22 72 16 500 

1871 30 80 26 500 

1872 30 80 24 500 

1873 31 65 20 500 

1874 32 75 24 500 

1875 24 8 2 500 

60 



HAMBLETONIAN AND /7/.Sf mNS. 

It appears from the above table that the total number 
of foals got by Rysdyk's Hambletonian was 1333. 
During the fifteen seasons, beginning when he was 
four years old, in 1853, and ending with the season 
of 1867, he got 1187 foals, an average of seventy-nine 
each year. The number of his foals that took records 
of 2.30 or better is forty, all trotters, the fastest of 
which is the old-time world's champion. Dexter, 
(2.171-4). Hambletonian is now credited with one 
hundred and fifty sons, that have sired 1487 trotters, 
and two hundred and twenty pacers which have made 
records in standard time, while eighty of his daughters 
have produced one hundred and ten standard trotters 
and seven standard pacers, a total of 1824. 

Seven of the sons of Rysdyk's Hambletonian sur- 
passed him as sires of 2.30 performers, and another 
just equalled him in that respect. In addition to their 
2.30 trotters all of these eight sons have sired several 
pacers that have made standard records. These eight 
sons of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, with figures represent- 
ing their number of 2.30 trotters, are given below, to- 
gether with the breeding of their first and second dams. 
Electioneer, b. h., foaled 1868 ; dam. Green Mountain Maid, 
by Harry Clay (2.29); second dam, Shanghai Mary,- 

undoubtedly by Iron's Cadmus 165 

Happy Medium, b. h., foaled 1863; dam, Princess (2.30), 
by Andrus' Hamlbletonian ; second, dam, Wilcox Mare, 

by Burdick's Engineer 87 

George Wilkes, br. h., foaled 1856; dam Dolly Spanker, by 
Henry Clay; second dam. Telegraph, by Baker's 

Highlander 72 

Egbert, b. h., foaled 1875; dam, Camptown, by Messenger 
Duroc; second dam, Miss McLeod, by Holbert Colt, 
son of Hambletonian 67 



61 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Strathmore, b. h., foaled 1866; dam, Lady Waltermire, by 
North American; second dam by Harris' Hambletonian 54 

Aberdeen, b. h., foaled 1866; dam. Widow Machree (2.29), 
by Seeley's American Star; second dam, Duryea Mare, 
by Pintlar's Bolivar 49 

Dictator, br. h., foaled 1863; dam, Clara, by Seeley's 
American Star ; second dam, McKinstry Mare 46 

Harold, b. h., foaled 1864; dam. Enchantress, by old 
Abdallah ; second dam, untraced 40 

Electioneer. Electioneer sired a greater number 
of 2.30 trotters than any other two sons of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian. The Year Book credits him with but 
one hundred and fifty-eight. The books of the National 
and American Trotting Associations, however, credit 
him with one hundred and sixty-five. The compilers 
of the Year Book do not dispute the records of the 
seven whose names do not appear in Electioneer's list 
in that work, but reject them because they were not 
made strictly in accordance with the rules suggested 
by Mr. Wallace, who was proprietor of the Year Book 
and Register when many of these records were made. 
The total number of foals got by Electioneer, including 
about forty that he got while at Stony Ford, was a 
few more than four hundred or less than one-third 
the number got by his sire, Rysdyk's Hambletonian, 
yet his number of 2.30 trotters is more than four times 
that got by Rysdyk's Hambletonian. 

Electioneer was bred by Charles Backman, propri- 
etor of Stony Ford Farm, Goshen, N. Y., and foaled 
May 2, 1868. Late in the fall of 1876 he was bought 
for $12,500, by Governor Leland Stanford, proprietor 
of the famous Palo Alto breeding establishment, 
Menlo Park, California. He was a dark bay horse 



62 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

with both hind feet and pasterns white, 15.2 hands 
high at the withers, and an inch higher at the hips. 
He was a compactly made, smoothly turned animal, 
with a well proportioned, fair sized, brainy head, good 
shoulders, round barrel of good length, excellent back, 
strong loin and powerfully muscled quarters, gaskins 
and forearms. His joints were sound and clean, his 
legs and feet naturally first-class. He was well pro- 
portioned all over, well finished and showed consid- 
erable quality. He was broken to harness as a three- 
year-old, and though worked but little showed a quarter 
in thirty-eight seconds that season to wagon. Though 
never developed and conditioned for racing he was 
a good gaited, good headed, natural trotter, and showed 
quarters in thirty-five seconds, or better, in his exercise 
on the Palo Alto Farm track. He died at Palo Alto, 
Dec. 3, 1890, from muscular rheumatism. 

The dam of Electioneer, Green Mountain Maid, was 
a good-gaited trotter, and showed very fast in the lot. 
She was of a highly nervous temperament, and was 
never broken to use in harness. She was a small, wiry, 
active animal, only about fifteen hands high. Her sire, 
Sayre's Harry Clay (2.29), was by Neave's Cassius M. 
Clay, Jr., and his dam was by imported Bellfounder, 
the Norfolk trotter that got the dam of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian. The dam of Green Mountain Maid was 
very blood-like in appearance, a fast trotter for her 
day, and was called Shanghai Mary. It has been 
stated upon apparently good authority that Shanghai 
Mary trotted a mile in 2.28. Her breeding has never 
been fully established, but there is strong circumstan- 
tial evidence, which tends to prove quite conclusively, 



63 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

that her sire was Iron's Cadmus, and that her dam 
was running bred. Iron's Cadmus is recorded in 
Bruce's American Stud Book as by Cadmus ( sometimes 
called Beech's Cadmus) ; dam by Brunswick, a son of 
Sumpter, by the famous Sir Archy. Cadmus, the sire 
of Iron's Cadmus, was by the renowned four-mile race 
winner, American Eclipse, and his dam. Die Vernon, 
was by Ball's Florizel, the son of imported Diomed, 
that got the dam of the successful race horse, Boston. 
American Eclipse was by Duroc, son of imported 
Diomed, and his dam was Miller's Damsel, by imported 
Messenger. Miller's Damsel was the best race winner 
that imported Messenger ever got. Her dam was bred 
in England, and got by Pot-8-o's, a son of the famous 
English Eclipse. Pot-8-o's sired three winners of the 
famous English Derby. The second dam of Miller's 
Damsel was by Gimcrack, a son of Cripple, by 
Godolphin Arabian. Her third dam was by Snap, son 
of Snip, by Flying Childers; her fourth dam by 
Regulus, son of Godolphin Arabian, and her fifth 
dam by Bartlett's Childers, full brother of Flying 
Childers. It will be remembered that a son of Bart- 
lett's Childers, called Squirt, got Marske, sire of the 
unbeaten English Eclipse. 

Electioneer sired a greater number of champion 
trotters than have been sired by all the other sons of 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian. During his first season at 
Palo Alto, Electioneer got Fred Crocker, that in 1880 
reduced the world's champion trotting record for two- 
year-olds to 2.25 1-4. Sons and daughters of Elec- 
tioneer have held the world's champion trotting record 
from that day to the present time. In 1S!)1 it was 



G4 



HAiMBLETONIAN AND Hh<^ »SfOA'»Sf. 

lowered to 2.10 3-4 by Arion, where it now stands. The 
world's three-year-old champion trotting record was 
reduced five times by two daughters and a son of 
Electioneer. The world's champion four-year-old trot- 
ting record was reduced six times by three different 
daughters of Electioneer. The world's champion 
yearling trotting record has been reduced five time* 
by two different daughters and a grandson of Elec- 
tioneer. This grandson of Electioneer was Adbell, 
that placed it at 2.23, where the yearling trotting rec- 
ord now stands. Palo Alto, by Electioneer, reduced 
the world's champion stallion record to 2.08 3-4 in 
1891. All the above champion trotters, except Adbell, 
were trained and driven to their records by one man, 
the veteran trainer, Charles Marvin. 

Several of the sons of Electioneer have also sired 
trotting champions at different ages. Electioneer is 
now credited with ninety-nine sons that have sired 
eight hundred and seventy-four standard trotters and 
two hundred and twenty-five standard pacers. He is 
also credited with ninety-three daughters that have 
produced one hundred and thirteen trotters and sixteen 
pacers, that have taken records in standard time. The 
total number of standard performers sired by Elec- 
tioneer's sons and produced by his daughters to the 
close of 1903 was 1250. 

George Wilkes (2.22). George Wilkes was bred by 
(>oIonel Felter of Newburgh, N. Y., and foaled in 1856. 
His dam, Dolly Spanker, was a noted road mare, about 
15.2 hands high, brown in color, with white hairs mixed 
through her coat ; foaled in 1847 or 1848, sired by Henry 
Clay, son of Andrew Jackson. Dolly Spanker's dam 



05 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

was Telegraph, a very superior roadster, by Baker's 
Highlander, son of Paul's Highlander, by Kellogg's 
Highlander, by Sherman Morgan, son of the original 
Justin Morgan. It is claimed that the dam of Tele- 
graph was imported from England and was running 
bred. Dolly Spanker died shortly after giving birth 
to George Wilkes, and the latter was raised on cow's 
milk. He was small and somewhat puny at first. He 
was a family pet or cosset until he was two years old 
or upwards, and then answered to the name of Billy. 
When two years old he was rather small for his age 
and somewhat shaggy in appearance, but finally devel- 
oped into a well-proportioned, smoothly turned horse, 
15.1 hands in height, and was higher behind than for- 
ward. At maturity he was well supplied with muscles 
of the hard, fine-grained quality. His quarters and 
gaskins were particularly strong. He was a brown 
color, with tan muzzle and flanks, and his right hind 
foot and ankle were white. 

By some George Wilkes was pronounced a very hand- 
some horse. It was generally acknowledged in those 
days that Ethan Allen (2.25 1-2) was the handsomest 
and most stylish horse in harness that could be found. 
The noted horseman Dunn Walton knew both Ethan 
Allen and George Wilkes well. Mr. Walton is a born 
horseman, and one of the best judges of trotting stock 
in this country. He was as firm a friend of Ethan Al- 
len (2.25 1-2) as that handsome son of Vermont Black 
Hawk ever had. During an interview with Mr. Walton 
several years ago he stated to the writer that in his 
judgment George Wilkes was fully as handsome as 
Ethan Allen, but added that "Ethan Allen was the best 



66 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

gaited trotter and most perfect road horse that he 
ever saw." It is evident that George Wilkes lacked the 
proud bearing, elegant poise and elastic step which dis- 
tinguished Ethan Allen and captivated the general 
public. 

When three years old George Wilkes was broken to 
harness, and soon gave promise of becoming a fast trot- 
ter. He was placed in the hands of the well-known 
trainer, Horace Jones, who agreed to keep the colt and 
develop his speed for a half interest in him. He soon 
attracted considerable attention from horsemen by his 
gait, speed and strong inclination to stick to the trot. 
Mr. Z. E. Simmons, then of New York city, bought the 
colt when about four years old, paying $4000 cash and 
another horse, if report was correct. Mr. W. L. Sim- 
mons, a brother of Z. E., bought an interest in the horse 
not long afterwards, and finally became his sole owner. 

The first race won by this remarkable son of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian was at Fashion Course, L. I., August 1, 
1861. He was then called Robert Fillingham. There 
were two other starters, and it was a four-heat race. 
Robert Fillingham won the first, third and fourth heats 
in 2.33, 2.331-4, 2.34 3-4. In 1865 his name was 
changed to George Wilkes. He was raced every season 
from 1861 up to and including the season of 1872. He 
defeated many of the very best trotters of his time. 
He beat American Girl (2.16 1-4) once to wagon; Lucy 
(2.18 1-4) three times to harness, and Lady Thorn 
(2.181-4) once to wagon and twice to harness. His 
record, 2.22, was made in the second heat of a four-heat 
race that he won at Providence, R. I., October 13, 
1868, and it was then the world's champion record for 



67 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

trotting stallions. He started in sixty-nine races in 
all, and won first money in twenty-eight of them. The 
total amount of his winnings in purses was $50,150. 
He won fifty -six heats in 2.30 or better. He was much 
faster than his record indicates. It is stated upon ap- 
parently good authority that in his six-year-old form 
he trotted a mile in 2.19 1-4 and repeated in 2.17 1-4, 
also that he trotted a half to wagon in 1.04 1-2, and a 
quarter in 29 seconds. 

George Wilkes' trotting action, especially behind, 
was unlike that of any other trotter of his day. The 
late Charles J. Foster, who was an experienced horse- 
man, as well as a very entertaining writer, stated that 
"George Wilkes' hind leg when straightened out in 
action, as he went at his best speed, reminded him of 
that of a duck swimming." Another horseman said 
that when trotting he could reach his hind leg further 
back of the sulky, and hold it there longer than any 
other trotter he ever saw. It is evident that he was one 
of the most honest trotters that lived in his day, and 
at times suffered from cruel abuse. A man whom we 
have known for years, and whose word can be relied 
upon, says that a wire was braided into the lash of 
the whip with which George Wilkes was driven in his 
races, and he saw the whij) applied so severely that the 
blood trickled down upon his legs after the heat was 
finished, and yet the horse did not break from a trot. 
He did not allow strangers to become familiar with 
him, and it has been said that he would run back faster 
and farther to kick another horse than any other stal- 
lion then living. His son, Kentucky Wilkes (2. 21 1-4), 
resembled him somewhat at times in this respect. 



68 



HAMBLETONIAN AXD Hlf^ NOA',Sf. 

In 1873 the late W. H. Wilson prevailed upon Messrs. 
Simmons to let him take George Wilkes to Kentucky 
and stand him for stock purposes. The horsemen there 
were not inclined to patronize him at first on account 
of his lack of size. Mr. Wilson was a hustler, however, 
and by breeding some of them on shares got a fair 
number of mares. The Messrs. Simmons finally moved 
to Kentucky. Mr. W. L. Simmons, who had secured 
Z. E. Simmons' interest in George Wilkes, established 
a breeding farm known as Ash Grove, near Lexington, 
and it was here that George Wilkes spent the last years 
of his life. The horse died from pneumonia at Ash 
Grove, May 28, 1882. He was used but little in the 
stud before going to Kentucky, and probably got all 
told not more than four hundred and fifty foals. W. H. 
Marrett (Vision) informed the writer that Mr. Sim- 
mons gave the number of his foals as about four 
hundred. 

At the close of the season of 1903 George Wilkes 
was credited with one hundred and two sons that had 
sired 1,813 trotters and eight hundred and thirty -two 
pacers with standard records; also with one hundred 
and one daughters that had produced one hundred and 
thirty-two standard trotters and forty-seven standard 
pacers. His sons had at that time sired and his daugh- 
ters produced a total of 2,824 standard performers. 
The sons and daughters of Rysdyk's Hambletonian 
sired and produced 1.824 standard performers, just 
1,000 less than those of George Wilkes. 

It appears from the above that while the number of 
George Wilkes' sons and daughters that took standard 
records are not one-half the number of those got by 



HO 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Electioneer, yet he has proved far superior to Elec- 
tioneer as a perpetuator of trotting speed. None of 
the sons and daughters of George Wilkes were ever 
distinguished as holders of world's champion records, 
however. The fastest of his get was Harry Wilkes, 
trotting record 2.13 1-2. There are world's champion 
pacers among his progeny, however. Dan Patch 
(1.56), the fastest pacer yet produced, is inbred to him. 
Joe Patchen (2.01 1-4), the sire of Dan Patch, was got 
by Patchen Wilkes (2.29 1-2), a son of George Wilkes. 
Wilkesberry (2.30), that got the dam of Dan Patch 
(1.56), was by Young Jim, a son of George Wilkes. 
There is no other trotting strain from which so good 
results have been obtained in late years by close in- 
breeding as that of George Wilkes. 

Happy Medium (2.321-2). Happy Medium ranks 
next to Electioneer among the sons of Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian as a sire of 2.30 trotters, with eighty-eight 
to his credit. He was bred by R. F. Galloway, Suf- 
frens, N. Y., and foaled in 1863. His dam was the 
famous trotting mare Princess (2.30), that was at one 
time the property of the father of C. K. G. Billings, 
who now owns the world's champion trotter, Lou Dil- 
lon (1.58 1-2). Princess was by Andrus Hambletonian, 
a son of Judson's Hambletonian, and he by Bishop's 
Hambletonian, the running bred son of imported Mes- 
senger, that got the famous old-time long distance trot- 
ter Whalebone. He also got the dam of that other 
wonderful old-time trotter. Top Gallant, and later got 
the second dam of Rysdyk's Hambletonian. The dam 
of Andrus Hambletonian was by Well's Magnum 
Bonum, a son of imported Magnum Bonum. This 

70 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS S0N8. 

Well's Magnum Bonum was owned in Washington 
county, N. Y., where he stood for stock purposes for a 
number of years. He also did service at several towns 
in Vermont. The Register gives the dam of Andrus 
Hambletonian as untraced, but a trustworthy gentle- 
man, who knew the mare well, stated positively that 
she was by Old Magnum Bonum, as Well's Magnum 
Bonum was called to distinguisth him from his sons. 
Judson's Hambletonian, the sire of Andrus Hamble- 
tonian, was also from a daughter of Well's Magnum 
Bonum, making Andrus Hambletonian inbred to this 
son of imported Magnum Bonum. This imported 
Magnum Bonum was very strongly inbred to the fa- 
mous Godolphin Arabian, through some of the best sons 
of the latter. He was got by the renowned Matchem, 
whose sire was Cade, by Godolphin Arabian, and 
his dam was by Croft's Partner, the best grandson of 
the famous Byerley Turk. Tartar, a son of Croft's 
Partner, was the sire of Herod, one of the most famous 
sires of winners in England in his day. The dam of 
imported Magnum Bonum was by Regulus, one of the 
very best sons of Godolphin Arabian. Regulus was 
one of the best race horses of his day. Pick's Turf 
Register says that "Regulus at six years old won eight 
Royal Plates and another Plate the value of which 
was given at 50 pounds English money. He was never 
beaten and was much superior to any other horse of 
his time." The dam of Princess was the Isaiah Wilcox 
mare, and her sire was Burdick's Engineer, a son of 
Engineer, by imported Messenger. Beyond that noth- 
ing is known of Princess' breeding. She was inbred to 
imported Messenger, and was also inbred to imported 

71 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Magnum Bonum. The record of Princess (2.30) gives 
but a faint idea of her speed and racing qualities. She 
was among the fastest trotters of her day, and nearly 
the equal in speed of the renowned old-time world's 
champion trotter Flora Temple (2.19 3-4). The latter 
was foaled in 1845 and Princess in 1846. 

Princess was once matched to trot two ten-mile dash 
races against Glencoe Chief. The first was to wagon, 
for 136,500. This race came off in California, March 
2, 1859, and was won by Princess in twenty-nine min- 
utes ten and three-quarters seconds. The race to har- 
ness was for |5,000 and took place the day following 
the wagon race, March 3, 1859. This race was also 
won by Princess in twenty-nine minutes, sixteen and 
one-quarter seconds. Princess was then brought East 
and at the Eclipse, Long Island, course, June 23, 1859, 
she beat Flora Temple in a race of two mile heats, best 
two in three, time 5.02-5.05. Princess met Flora Tem- 
ple several times afterwards during that season, but 
did not beat her again. It was she, however, that 
forced Flora Temple to the world's trotting record, 
2.19 3-4, in the third heat of a race at Kalamazoo, 
October 15, 1859. 

Happy Medium was a handsome bay horse with both 
hind feet, pasterns and ankles white, a small star in 
his forehead and a snip on his nose. He stood 15.3 
hands in height, and in general conformation bore quite 
a close resemblance to his renowned sire, but was some- 
what better finished than Hambletonian at some points, 
especially his head and muzzle, and he was a trifle 
more rangy than his sire. He was a natural trotter 
and good gaited. He was handled some for speed 

72 







4 s'^'" 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

when young and was raced a little. He won a four- 
year-old stallion race at Goshen, N. Y., September 11, 
1867, beating two competitors in 2.54, 3.00. He also 
beat one other horse in a race as a five-year-old at 
Goshen, N. Y., September 3, 1868, and lowered his 
record to 2.51. On September 15, 1869, he distanced 
Guy Miller and Honesty at Paterson, N. J., in 2.34 1-2, 
2.82 1-2. It is claimed that Happy Medium was 
trained but eight days for this race. This was his last 
public race. His breeder, Mr. Galloway, stated that he 
drove Happy Medium quarters in 35 seconds to wagon 
carrying two hundred and fifty pounds. In 1871 Mr. 
Galloway sold Happy Medium to the late Robert Steel 
of Cedar Park, Philadelphia, for |25,000. He stood 
at the head of the stud there until the fall of 1879, when 
Mr. Steele sold the horse to General Withers, then pro- 
prietor of the Fairlawn Farm, Lexington, Ky. Happy 
Medium did stud duty at Fairlawn until his death, 
which occurred January 25, 1888. 

Happy Medium was well patronized, and left an ex- 
tensive and valuable progeny. The most noted per- 
formers among his get were Nancy Hanks, that low-* 
ered the world's champion trotting record to 2.04, at 
Terre Haute, Ind., September 28, 1892, and Maxie Cobb, 
that reduced the world's champion record for trotting 
stallions to 2.13 1-4 at Providence, R. I., September 30, 
1884. Happy Medium is now credited with sixty-six 
sons that have sired two hundred and sixty-four trot- 
ters and one hundred and twenty-seven pacers with 
standard records; also with seventy-four daughters 
that have produced eighty-nine trotters and twenty- 
seven pacers that have made records in standard time. 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

His son, Pilot Medium, has proved even more success- 
ful than Happy Medium himself as a sire of standard 
performers. Pilot Medium at the close of 1903 was 
credited with ninety-nine trotters and twenty-three 
pacers that had made standard records, a total of one 
hundred and twenty-two. For some reason, however, 
the sons of Pilot Medium up to the present time seem 
to lack perpetuating or breeding-on capacity. At the 
close of 1903 he was credited with twenty-two sons 
that were the sires of thirty-three trotters and twenty- 
two pacers which have made standard records. 

Alexander's Abdallah. The other sons of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian, that sired world's champion trotters, 
are Alexander's Abdallah, Volunteer, Dictator and 
Harold. Alexander's Abdallah, opportunities consid- 
ered, was the most remarkable son of Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian. He was bred by Lewis J. Sutton, Warwick, 
N. Y., was one of the three foals that Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian got in his two-year-old form, and was foaled 
September 22, 1852. His dam was known as Katy 
Darling. Major Edsall, who bought Alexander's Ab- 
dallah when seventeen months old, made the following 
statement concerning this mare, and it was published 
in Wallace's Monthly for May, 1877: 

Katy Darling was a bay mare a little over fifteen and 
three-quarters strong; got by Bay Roman, a horse that ran 
races West and stood in Dutchess County, and Katy Darling 
went from there to New York. She trotted on Long Island, 
N. y., when four years old, in 2.40, and that winter was 
harnessed double with Mendham Maid, but got her foot fast 
in the railroad track and broke her ankle. Lewis Sutton of 
Warwick went to New York, brought her to Newburg, and 
from there to Chester, and left her. In July or August she 



74 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

was stinted to Hambletonian. The summer that this colt by 
Hambletonian was fifteen months old, Katy Darling was 
brought to Goshen, N. Y., entered in a race to saddle, mile 
and repeat, on the road, against Blue Bug, a horse that could 
trot in 2.50, and two others; she was then lame, but beat the 
field a long distance and was a genuine trotter. 

We are inclined to think that the size given above, 
fifteen and three-quarters, was an unintentional error, 
and that the height of Katy Darling did not much ex- 
ceed 15.1 hands. All agree that she was a natural 
trotter of more than ordinary speed. It was under- 
stood then that her sire was Bay Roman, a son of 
imported Roman, dam by Young Mambrino, also known 
as Thompson's Mambrino, that was got by Mambrino, 
the son of Messenger that got Abdallah. 

The dam of Thompson's Mambrino was by Duroc, a 
son of imported Diomed. The dam of Bay Roman is 
given in Helm's Work as the Pinckey mare, said to be 
by Hickory, whose dam was also by Mambrino. This 
pedigree has never been established, but there is noth- 
ing improbable about it. Had any one been disposed 
to manufacture a fictitious pedigree for Katy Darling it 
is unlikely that he would have selected such as the 
above. 

After General Withers bought Alexander's Abdal- 
lah's son, Almont, some one suggested that Katy 
Darling was by a son of Andrew Jackson, probably 
Long Island Black Hawk. General Withers and Gen- 
eral Tilton employed a man at considerable expense to 
investigate the matter and learn whether such was 
the case or not. This was done, and the man finally 
submitted what purported to be facts tending to show 
that Katy Darling was a daughter of some son of Long 



75 



TEE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Island Black Hawk. The evidence was submitted to 
General Withers, who examined it carefully, but being 
an honest man, as well as a lawyer and a judge of 
evidence, he rejected it, and always continued to give 
the dam of Alexander's Abdallah in his catalogue as 
said to be Bay Roman, a son of imported Roman. 

Alexander's Abdallah was a born trotter. Mr. Sut- 
ton, his breeder, is authority for the statement that 
when the colt was one year old no man about his 
place could run so fast as the colt, led to bridle, could 
trot. When about seventeen months old this colt was 
bought in partnership by Mr. Hezekiah Hoyt and Major 
J. S. Edsall, at a price somewhere between three hun- 
dred and fifty dollars and five hundred dollars. Major 
Edsall finally became his sole owner and he was then 
named Hambletonian, Jr. He was also known as Ed- 
sall's Hambletonian. In the winter of 1859 Major 
Edsall sold the horse to James Miller and Joseph Love 
of Kentucky for about three thousand dollars. The 
horse was taken to Cynthiana, Ky., about the first 
of March, 1859, being then seven years old. He made 
four seasons at Cynthiana, and in the fall of 1862 be- 
came the property of R. A. Alexander, the founder of 
famous Woodburn Farm, near Lexington, Ky. Mr. 
Alexander gave the stallion Forest Temple and two 
thousand dollars cash in exchange for the son of 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian and placed him at the head 
of the stud in the trotting department at Woodburn 
Farm. After becoming the property of Mr. Alexander 
the name of the horse was changed to Alexander's Ab- 
dallah. He died in the spring of 1865. The circum- 
stances attending his death are minutely recorded in 



76 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

Helm's American Trotters and Roadsters as follows: 
On the second day of February, 1865, about 6 o'clock p. m., 
a band of guerrillas under one Marion visited Woodburn and 
took several horses, among them Bay Chief, a son of 
Mambrino Chief, and Abdallah (Alexander's). They 
encamped about 12 miles from Woodburn, where they were 
attacked by a Federal force early the next morning and 
routed, the horses being recaptured. Bay Chief was shot in 
several places during the fight, and died from his wounds in 
about ten days. Abdallah was seized by a Federal soldier, 
who refused to release him. The horse was unshod and in 
no condition for severe usage; nevertheless, in this plight he 
was ridden by the soldier over the roughest of stony and hilly 
roads, nearly fifty miles that day, and, becoming exhausted, 
was turned loose on the highway, where he was found the 
next day in a most deplorable state. He was taken to 
Lawrenceburg, but could go no further. Here he was seized 
with pneumonia, from which he died in a few days. 

In his four-year-old form Alexander's Abdallah got 
Goldsmith Maid (2.14), the most remarkable trotter 
ever produced. This mare was foaled in 1857 and was 
first raced in 1865, under the name of Goldsmith Mare. 
She was raced every year after that up to and in- 
cluding the season of 1877. When she first came out 
the world's champion trotting record was 2.17 1-4 and 
was held by Dexter. In 1871 Goldsmith Maid lowered 
it to 2.17. In 1872 she lowered it to 2.16 3-4. In 1874 
she lowered it four times, first to 2.16, at East Saginaw, 
Mich., July 16 ; then to 2.15 1-2 at Buffalo, N. Y., Au- 
gust 7 ; to 2.14 3-4 at Rochester, N. Y., August 12 ; and 
to 2.14 at Mystic Park, Boston, September 2. This 
stood as the world's champion trotting record until 
Rarus lowered it to 2.13 1-4 at Buffalo, N. Y., August 
3, 1878. This calls to mind the fact that in the Table 
of Champion Trotters in the Year Book the record of 

77 



THE AMERICA!^ TROTTER. 

Rarus has been given as 2.13 3-4 ever since 1893, a 
clerical error that should be corrected. Goldsmith 
Maid equalled her record at Belmont Park, Philadel- 
phia, June 23, 1876. At Chico, Gal., May 19, 1877, 
she" beat Rarus in 2.19 1-2, 2.14 1-2, 2.17, a truly won- 
derful performance for a mare then past twenty years 
old. She trotted in all three hundred and thirty-two 
heats in 2.30 or better, not including those in which 
she was beaten by other horses. She met and defeated 
all the best trotters of her day. She produced her first 
foal when twenty-two years old, and had two others 
afterwards. Her dam was by old Abdallah, and her 
second dam was running bred, or at least was raced 
successfully at the running gait. 

During the season of 1863 Alexander's Abdallah 
got two sons whose progeny will keep his memory 
green for many years to come. They were Almont 
and Belmont. The latter got the unequalled brood 
mare sire Nutwood (2.18 3-4), whose daughters have 
already produced one hundred and sixty-nine trotters 
and fifty-three pacers, a total of two hundred and 
twenty-two, that have made records in standard time, 
and the list will continue to grow for more than ten 
years yet. Alexander's Abdallah got five trotters with 
records from 2.30 to 2.14. He is credited with four- 
teen sons that sired one hundred and forty-two trot- 
ters and fourteen pacers that took standard records, 
also with twenty-nine daughters that produced thirty- 
five trotters and eight pacers that made standard rec- 
ords. His daughters also produced sixty-five stallions 
that have sired standard speed. Three of his four 



78 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

most successful sons, as sires and perpetuators of trot- 
ting speed, were from daughters of Mambrino Chief. 
These were Almont, Belmont and Thorndale. 

The Alexander's Abdallah branch of the Hamble- 
tonian family is a valuable factor of trotting speed 
and at one time, when Almont was in his prime, it 
gave promise of leading all the others. During the 
past few years, however, it has fallen behind the 
Wilkes' branch of the family and bids fair to drop be- 
hind that of Electioneer. It is being perpetuated now 
in the paternal line, chiefly through Nutwood 
(2.18 3-4), whose dam. Miss Russell, was by Pilot, Jr., 
and whose second dam, Sally Russell, was a running 
bred daughter of the noted long distance race winner 
Boston. 

Volunteer. This noted son of Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian was foaled May 1, 1854, hence was got when 
his sire was four years old. The dam of Volunteer 
was Lady Patriot. Her sire was young Patriot, and 
he was by Patriot, a son of the running bred Blucher. 
The latter was by Duroc, a son of imported Diomed, 
and his dam, Young Damsel, was by Bishop's Ham- 
bletonian, his second dam being the famous race mare. 
Miller's Damsel, by imported Messenger. The breed- 
ing of Blucher was quite similar to that of the great 
four-mile race winner, American Eclipse. Both were 
by Duroc; the dam of American Eclipse was Miller'a 
Damsel, and the dam of Blucher was a daughter of 
Miller's Damsel. It will be observed that Young 
Damsel, the dam of Blucher, was closely inbred to 
imported Messenger. Her sire, Bishop's Hamble- 
tonian, was the best son of imported Messenger, and 

79 



THE AMERICAN TBOTTEB. 

Miller's Damsel was by far his best daughter, and a 
more successful race winner than Bishop's Hamble- 
tonian. The second dam of Volunteer was known as 
the Lewis Hulse mare. Nothing is known of her 
breeding, but it is a matter of history that her owner 
issued a standing challenge to any horse in this coun- 
try to both run and ti"ot against her, from which it 
is evident that she was fast at both gaits, and was 
from running bred ancestors on one side, if not both 
sides. When Lady Patriot was three years old a puff 
appeared on the side of one hock, which developed 
into a running sore. She was mated that season with 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian, and the day that she was four 
years old she gave birth to Volunteer. She produced 
in all fifteen foals, six of which, four colts and two 
fillies, were by Rysdyk's Hambletonian. One of the 
fillies died young. One of the colts, Sentinel 
(2.29 3-4), died when ten years old, and another, 
Oreen's Hambletonian, was burned to death when 
fourteen years old. 

Volunteer was bred by Mr. Joseph Hetzel of Florida, 
Orange county, N. Y., and was foaled his property. 
He was a beautiful bay in color, with black points, and 
some white around his left hind coronet. He stood 
15.3 hands at the withers and one inch higher over the 
hips. He was a handsome, smoothly turned horse, 
was more blood-like in appearance and showed more 
quality than any other son of Rysdyk's Hambletonian. 
He resembled his sire in muscular development of 
quarters, but his head, ear and neck were much finer 
than those points in his sire. Volunteer had a some- 
what peculiar conformation of hips, croup and setting 

80 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HI8 SONS. 

of the tail, which he transmitted to many of his get. 
He was a horse of substance, as well as finish. His 
muscle was of the hard, fine-grained type, and his bone 
of dense, ivory-like texture. He was a sound horse, 
with remarkably smooth limbs, clean joints and good 
feet. He was a natural, good-gaited trotter, but had 
less knee action than many of the other sons of his 
sire. He also had a temper that would not permit 
him to endure abuse, and that is a marked characteris- 
tic of some of his descendants. He was as full of 
nervous energy as an egg is of meat, and was especially 
attractive in harness. In his four-year-old form Vol- 
unteer won first premium in a stallion class at the 
Orange county, N. Y., fall fair. A few months later 
he was bought by Mr. R. C. Underbill of Brooklyn, N. 
Y., who had him handled some for speed. It has been 
stated upon good authority that the horse trotted a 
trial mile to wagon in 2.33, over Union Course, L. I., 
and repeated in 2.31 14. Chester's "Complete Trotting 
and Pacing Record" credits Volunteer with a record 
of 2.37 to wagon, made at Hartford, Ct., August 21, 
1867. In 1862 the horse became the partnership prop- 
erty of Edwin Thome, Esq., and Mr. Alden Goldsmith. 
Subsequently Mr. Goldsmith became his sole owner, 
after which he was used exclusively for stock purposes. 
He died the property of Mr. Goldsmith, December 12, 
1888. Volunteer got thirty-three trotters and one 
pacer that made standard records. He is credited 
with forty-one sons that have sired one hundred and 
forty-eight trotters, and twenty-eight pacers, that have 
made records in standard time, and fifty-five of his 



81 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 
* 

daughters have produced sixty-two standard trotters 
and fifteen standard pacers. 

The get of Volunteer did not mature early, but they 
raced better than the get of any other son of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian. They were more noted for great cour- 
age and endurance than extreme speed. Yet there 
were some world's record breakers among them. His 
son, St. Julien, lowered the world's champion record 
to 2.12 3-4, at Oakland, Cal., October 25, 1879, and the 
following year reduced it to 2.11 1-4. His daughter, 
Huntress, driven by the veteran trainer, John Trout, 
lowered the world's three-mile champion trotting rec- 
ord to 7.21 1-4 in 1872. Volunteer produced the best 
results from mares of Clay and Seeley's American Star 
blood. The dam of St. Julien (2.111-4). was by 
Say re's Harry Clay (2.29), and that of Huntress, by 
Seeley's American Star. The most successful son of 
Volunteer, as a sire and perpetuator of speed, was 
Louis Napoleon, whose dam was Hattie Wood, by 
Say re's Harry Clay (2.29), and whose second dam was 
Grandmother, a running bred daughter of Terror, by 
American Eclipse. There is no trotting family su- 
perior to that of Volunteer for transmitting a high 
degree of courage and great endurance. 

Harold. This distinguished son of Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian was bred by Charles S. Dole, Crystal Lake, 
111., and foaled in 1864. His dam was Enchantress, a 
bay daughter of Old Abdallah. The second dam of 
Harold was a bob-tailed, chestnut mare, bought with 
some cows, by a Mr. William Thome, in Central Valley, 
N. Y. It was claimed at one time that this chestnut 



82 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

mare was by the Norfolk trotter imported Bell- 
founder, but careful investigation failed to substan- 
tiate the claim. Enchantress was mated with Al- 
hambra, a son of Mambrino Chief, and the produce 
was Black Maria that trotted to a record of 2.30 1-2, 
in a race which she won, at Portsmouth, O., September 
26j 1874. Enchantress also produced Lakeland Abdal- 
lah, a full brother of Harold. When Harold was in 
his two-year-old form, his breeder, Mr. Dole, exchanged 
him with R. A. Alexander, Esq., proprietor of Wood- 
burn Farm, for horse stock, and the colt was taken 
to Lexington, Ky. He was then so small and unat- 
tractive that he was not considered of much value by 
the Woodburn people and other Kentucky horsemen. 

Harold was a beautiful rich bay in color, with jet 
black points. He was compactly built, but stood only 
fifteen hands high at maturity. It has been stated 
upon good authority that he was somewhat tucked up 
in the flanks, or what old horsemen called "fiddle 
flanked." He had an intelligent countenance, strong- 
ly muscled quarters of the Bellfounder type, wide and 
strong gaskins, for a horse of his size, and the best of 
feet and legs. A well-informed horseman who visited 
Woodburn Farm to learn the facts wrote of him as 
follows : 

Harold was thought so little of at Woodburn that he was 
not broken to harness till he was five years old. He was a 
pure gaited trotter, and with limited handling could show 
considerable speed for that early day. During the limited 
handling that Harold received he trotted short distances at 
better than a 2.30 gait, and as soon as his training had been 
sufficiently advanced he was given an easy mile and repeat. 

It appears from the carefully kept books at Woodburn that 



83 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

he trotted the first mile in 2.42, and in the repeat made the 
first quarter in 39 1-2 seconds, the half in 1.20 1-2 and the 
three-quarters in 1.59 1-2, when he struck his quarter and tore 
it open so that it made an ugly permanent scar; still, without 
flinching, he came on and finished the mile in 2.40 1-2, but 
was never harnessed arterwards, 

Harold was six years old when first used for stock pur- 
poses, and but five mares were mated with him that season. 
Three of the foals which resulted from that season's service 
were Hermes, that took a trotting record of 2.27 12; Childe 
Harold, that was taken to England, where he trotted fast and 
became quite popular as a stallion; and Bicara, now in the 
brood mare list with six trotters to her credit, one of which 
was the successful sire Pancoast (2.21 3-4). 

Up to the time that Harold was eleven years old the total 
number of foals that he had got was nineteen, and very few 
mares had been mated with him, except such as it was very 
diflJcult to get with foal, or were otherwise considered 
undesirable for breeding to stallions that were then thought 
to be his superiors. 

It is now a matter of history that the breeding of several 
thoroughbred mares to Pilot, Jr., was an experiment, for the 
purpose of getting brood mares, and, famous as those mares 
have since become, the first of their offspring, when young, 
were not considered at all superior, which was the real reason 
that Miss Russell, Midnight and several others were bred in 
1873 to Harold. From these services came the old-time 
champion trotter, Maud S. (2.08 3-4), Noontide (2.20 1-2), 
which many have claimed had as much natural speed as Maud 
S., and several others that helped to make the Pilot, Jr., 
mares famous. 

Harold died at Woodburn Farm October 6, 1893. 
Although he lived to be upwards of twenty-nine years 
old, he did not leave a numerous progeny, but after his 
noted daughter, Maud S. (2.08 3-4), became the world''<3 
champion trotter, he was more liberally patronized than 
before that time. He is credited with forty trotters 



84 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

and five pacers that made standard records; for- 
ty-six of his sons have sired one hundred and seventy- 
nine trotters and eighty-six pacers that have made rec- 
ords standard time, and fifty-seven of his daughters 
are credited with ninety-five trotters and thirteen 
pacers that have made standard records. 

The most noted of Harold's descendants have been 
from mares whose ancestors on the dam's side were 
mostly from running-bred stock. The fastest of his 
get was the famous world's champion Maud S. 
(2.08 3-4). Her dam was by Pilot, Jr., and from Sally 
Russell, a running bred daughter of the noted race 
horse Boston, winner of forty races, thirty of which 
were of four-mile heats. The most successful son of 
Harold as a sire is Lord Russell, and he was from 
the dam of Maud S. (2.08 3-4). Lord Russell is the 
sire of Kremlin, that lowered the world's champion 
five-year-old trotting record to 2.07 3-4 November 5, 
1892. This was then the world's champion record 
for trotting stallions. The most noted daughter of 
Harold as a producer of extreme speed was Beulah, 
the dam of Beuzetta (2.06 3-4), Early Bird (2.10), 
etc. The dam of Beulah was Sally B., and her sire 
was Lever, a running bred son of Lexington, by Bos- 
ton. Attorney, a son of Harold, got the dam of the 
one-time world's champion trotter, Alix (2.03 3-4.) 
The dam of Attorney was by Alexander's Abdallah, 
but his second dam was a running-bred daughter of 
Robert Bruce, a son of Clinton by Sir Charles by 
Sir Archy. 

Dictator. This valuable son of Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonion was bred by Jonathan Hawkins, Walden, 



85 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Orange Co., N. Y., and foaled in 1863. His dam was 
Clara, a small black mare, foaled in 1848, and got by 
Seely's American Star, making Dictator a full brother 
of the famous Dexter, the trotting wonder of his day, 
that lowered the world's champion trotting record to 
2.17 1-4, at Buffalo, N. Y., August 14, 1867. In reply 
to a request by the writer for a description of Clara, 
Mr. Jonathan Hawkins, under date of January 8, 1894, 
wrote as follows : 

Clara was about fifteen and one-quarter hands high, and 
was a natural trotter. She was never trained, but in the fall 
of 1861, when she was carrying Lady Dexter, my brother took 
her out of pasture and drove her to wagon in 2.58. She could 
show a 2.40 gait hitched light. She was a mare of fine nerve 
and good temper, a free, pleasant driver, and ready for a 
brush on the road at any time. 

At the age of eighteen months, in trying to jump a fence, 
she caught her front foot, which threw her, and caused her 
to turn a complete somersault. This hipped her and left her 
crooked. One hip was too high and the other too low, yet 
although she went a trifle sidewise, it affected her gait but 
very little. I did not breed Clara in the spring of 1858, after 
Dexter was foaled, thinking I would need her to drive. She 
sprained one of her hind legs during the spring of 1859, which 
resulted in a bone spavin. Had I left her at breeding, this 
of course would never have happened. 

We are inclined to think that Mr. Hawkins intend- 
ed to represent the height of Clara as 15 hands and 
one-fourth of an inch instead of 15.1 hands, as many 
might infer that he meant by 15 1-4 hands. Some who 
knew her estimated her height at only about 14.2 
or at most 14.3 hands high at the withers, when in 
her prime, but she may have been upwards of fifteen 
hands high behind. It is evident from Mr. Hawkins' 

86 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

letter that Clara was a good headed trotter, with con- 
siderable natural speed. Many mares with fast rec- 
ords could not be taken right from pasture and driven 
a mile in 2.50 to as heavy a wagon as the lightest 
of those in use in 1858. The dam of Clara was called 
the McKinstry mare, but her breeding has never been 
given. Mated with Rysdyk's Hambletonian, this Mc- 
Kinstry mare produced Shark, that took a record of 
2.30 1-2 to harness and 2.27 3-4 to saddle. Shark also 
took a record of 2.36 to wagon, a two-mile record of 
5.00 1-2 to saddle and a three-mile record of 7.47 3-4, 
all in races that he won, from which it is evident that 
the McKinstry mare was well bred. She was a brown 
in color and all four of her feet were white, a badge 
that she transmitted through Clara to Dexter 
(2.171-4). 

Dictator was a well-proportioned, trim-built, hand- 
some, upheaded stallion, with a neat head, clean throt- 
tle, good back and loin, strong, smooth coupling, a 
handsomely turned croup, well muscled quarters, and 
wide gaskins, but was a lighter boned horse than most 
of the other sons of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, an Ameri- 
can Star characteristic that he inherited from his dam 
and transmitted to some of his offspring. He was a 
seal brown in color and his right hind foot pastern 
and ankle were white. He was strong fifteen, but 
scant 15.1 hands high at the withers. When he was 
about one year old, Dictator was bought by Mr. Har- 
rison Durkee, a wealthy gentleman who owned a farm 
on Long Island, a few miles from New York city. Mr. 
Durkee had Dictator trained some for speed. H. C. 
Woodnut, who probably handled and drove the horse 

87 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

more than any other man, has stated that he was a 
perfectly gaited trotter and fast, but he wa^s never 
developed and conditioned to show miles at speed. 
Although he stood for stock purposes at the farm of 
his owner, his lack of size and bone, and the high 
service fee for which he stood combined to prevent him 
from receiving much outside patronage during his 
early years. 

In 1876 Dictator was sent to Kentucky and stood 
there two seasons at a fee of |200. This was double 
the fee of George Wilkes, Almont and Belmont, the 
most popular stallions then standing in Kentucky, 
consequently but few mares were mated with him. 
4mong those that produced foals by him there were 
Betsey Trotwood by Clark Chief, a son of Mambrino 
Chief; dam by Ericsson (2,301-2), by Mambrino 
Chief; second dam a running bred daughter of Sir 
William by Sir Archy; Dolly, by Mambrino Chief; 
dam Fanny, by Ben Franklin (he by Hazrack, from 
a daughter of Johnson's Copperbottom, next dam by 
Saxe Weimer, a thoroughbred son of Sir Archy) ; 
second dam Nance by Saxe Weimer; Midnight, by 
Pilot, Jr., dam Twilight, a runing bred daughter of 
Lexington. He also received a few other well bred 
ones. From Midnight Dictator got Jay-Eye-See, that 
lowered the world's champion trotting record to 2.10 
at Narragansett Park, Providence, R. I., August 1, 
1884, and made a record of 2.06 1-4 pacing at Inde- 
pendence, Iowa, August 26, 1892. Betsey Trotwood's 
foal by Dictator was Phallas, that reduced the world's 
champion stallion trotting record to 2.13 3-4 at Chica- 
go, 111., July 14, 1884, and the foal that Dolly produced 



88 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

by Dictator was Director, that in 1883 beat all the 
best horses in the Grand Circuit, won two purses of 
f5,000 each, also the |10,000 Charter Oak event, in 
which he trotted to a record of 2.17, and was the 
largest money-winning light harness horse of the sea- 
son of 1883. Jay-Eye-See trotted, that season, to a 
record of 2.10 3-4, and Phallas to 2.15 1-2. The three 
trotters gave Dictator such a reputation as a sire that 
he was bought early in 1884 for $20,000 by several 
gentlemen, among whom were H. C. McDowell, Esq., 
and Colonel Richard West of Kentucky. Dictator 
was returned to Kentucky again and received sixty 
patrons during the season of 1884. The year follow- 
ing Mr. McDowell became sole owner of the horse on a 
value basis of $25,000. Dictator died at Mr. McDow- 
ell's place May 25, 1893. 

During the last years of his life Dictator's service 
fee was $500. He got in all forty-eight trotters and 
eleven pacers that have made records in standard time, 
including Jay-Eye-See, that appears in his list of 
pacers as well as trotters. He is also credited with 
fifty-seven sons which sired one hundred and forty- 
eight trotters and one hundred and eight pacers that 
have taken standard records; also with seventy -three 
daughters that have produced eighty-three trotters 
and twenty-six pacers which have made records in 
standard time. It is estimated that he got in all only 
about four hundred foals. 

Director (2.17) seems to have possessed stronger 
speed perpetuating ability than any of the other sons 
of Dictator. Direct (2.051-2), by Director; dam by 
Echo, a son of Rysdyk's Hambletonian ; second 

89 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

dam by Jack Hawkins, a running bred son of 
Boston, is proving the most successful grandson of 
Dictator as a sire of uniform and extreme 
speed. At the close of the season of 1903 Direct was 
credited with twenty-six trotters and twenty-eight 
pacers that had made standard records. Among the 
latter is Directly (2.031-4), that holds the world's 
champion record for two-year-old pacers, 2.07 3-4. 
Directum by Director reduced the world's champion 
stallion record to 2.05 1-4 when but four years old. 
This still stands as the world's champion record for 
four-year-old trotters. Directum's dam was by Ven- 
ture (2.27 3-4), a running bred son of Williamson's 
Belmont. Directum (2.05 1-4) is a more successful 
sire of extreme and uniform speed than any other son 
of Director (2.17), excepting Direct (2.05). 

Aberdeen. This son of Rysdyk's Hambletonian was 
bred by Captain Isaiah Rynders of Passaic, N. J., and 
foaled in 1866. His dam was the famous trotter, 
Widow Machree (2.29). She was got by the noted 
brood mare sire, Seely's American Star, and was, 
by the records, the fastest of his get. Norsemen who 
saw her race pronounced Widow Machree the gamest 
of all the old-time trotters. An incident witnessed by 
the king of trainers in his day, Hiram Woodruff, and 
related by him in his excellent work, "The Trotting 
Horse of America," well illustrates the racing quali- 
ties of this wonderful mare. Widow Machree, with 
her pole mate, had been brought from New York to 
Boston by steamer in a severe storm. The horses 
got wet and chilled. The team trotted a hard race 

90 



EAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

to pole the day that they were taken from the steam- 
er. Mr. Woodruff said of Widow Machree as follows : 

When we took tie team to their stable that night after 
their hard race to pole, I thought neither of them would be 
able to trot again that year. In the morning following I 
found the Widow lying down and eating hay. She was so 
stiff that she could not get up without our help. We thought 
she had trotted her last race, and her owner, Captain Rynders, 
said he would sell her for $500; but when she wa-5 on her feet 
she went at her oats and cleaned her manger, while we 
rubbed her forelegs with warm lotions. After this she was 
walked for an hour. 

The proprietor of the course said that the people would be 
greatly disappointed if she did not start in the race that 
afternoon, and requested that she might be led by the stand 
in order that her unfitness to start might be seen. When the 
time for the race came, I took her to the track and drove 
her past the stand in a sulky. She could hardly put one foot 
before the other. The other horses, Draco, Somerville, Lady 
Spurr and Ephraim Smooth, soon appeared. I had jogged 
the mare round, and was about to take her off when I noticed 
that she pricked up her ears at sight of the other horses 
and acted as though she would warm up and get limber. 

I then told the Captain that I thought she might do better 
than we expected, if started. He said I was crazy, but finally 
told me to do as I pleased, adding that he knew she would be 
distanced in the first heat. For all that I resolved to start 
her, and, as the day was cold and windy, jogged her round 
again. The first heat was won by Draco in 2.28 1-2, but I 
was second, although I had been run into by Ephraim Smooth, 
whose sulky wheel took the hair off one of the mare's legs. 
The second heat was won by Draco in 2.41 1-2, and I was 
second again, with Lady Spurr and Ephraim Smooth both 
distanced. The latter ran into Lady Spurr, upset her sulky 
and herself, and she fell with her neck over Dan Mace's body. 
Ephraim spilled his own driver and ran off with his sulky 
upside down. 



91 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

When Mace's sulky was upset I was close behind him and 
lost nearly a hundred yards. I had to call upon the Widow 
to get inside the distance, and the way she answered let me 
know that her dead game quality had triumphed over her 
infirmity, and that she was all the time "a coming." I sent 
her along and got second place. Between the heats she was 
blanketed close and kept moving except while her legs were 
being rubbed with lotion. In the third heat we got off well, 
aiid Draco and the Widow went neck-and-neck to the quarter. 
The mare then began to show in front; but Holcomb let the 
stallion break and ease himself by a few jumps; and this 
expedient being several times repeated, Draco was ahead in 
turning into the stretch. But the steady stroke of the mare 
overhauled him at the distance, and in spite of another break 
and run she beat him out by a neck in 2.39 1-2. Draco was 
second and Somerville third. 

In the fourth heat I had the pole, which was a great 
advantage, as it was a half-mile track. The mare took the 
lead and kept it, although Draco made a good game struggle. 
The time was 2.34 1-2. In the fifth heat Draco made a 
desperate race of it for half a mile, hanging on the mare's 
wheel all the way. It was at the rate of about 2.30, but after 
that it fell off, and I took the Widow in hand. She could 
have trotted out in 2.30 if there had been anything to force 
her. As it was the time was 2.39. In these five heats Widow 
Machree never broke. Considering her arduous race the day 
hefore, and the state ot her legs when we brought her to the 
course, it was one of the most splendid exhibitions of un- 
flinching game and strong bottom that was ever seen. The 
Widow's pluck was always so good that she was always 
counted a real do-or-die trotter. 

Unflinching courage and great endurance are 
marked characteristics of the descendants of Seely's 
American Star, sire of Widow Machree. The dam of 
Widow Machree was by Pintlar's Young Bolivar, by 
Davidson's Bolivar, a running bred son of Thornton's 
Rattler, by imported Diomed's renowned son, Sir 

92 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

Archy. Aberdeen was bay in color, with both hind 
feet pasterns and ankles white. He was a deep-bar- 
relled, blocky made horse, somewhat gross in appear- 
ance, with a small, thin tail, stood 15.3 hands, and 
in stud condition weighed 1,200 pounds. He was a 
good gaited, reliable, fast, natural trotter. He was 
trained in his three-year-old form, and was started in 
the "Spirit of the Time Stake" for three-year-olds in 
1869. He distanced his two competitors in the first 
heat in 2.46. He was never again started in a race. 
He showed so much speed in his four-year-old form 
that he was barred from the four-year-old stakes. It 
is stated upon good authority that he trotted a mile 
in 2.24 1-2 and a half in 1.09 1-2 on a slow half-mile 
track in New Jersey as a four-year-old. 

Aberdeen was kept in New Jersey until March, 1881, 
when he was bought by General W. T. Withers and 
taken to his Fairlawn Farm, Lexington, Ky. When 
General Withers died in June, 1889, Aberdeen was 
at the head of the Fairlawn establishment. At the 
dispersal sale of the Fairlawn stock, in October, 1889, 
Aberdeen, then twenty-three years old, was bought 
for 13,000 by Mr. James C. Clay of Paris, Ky., and 
remained his property until the death of the horse, 
which occurred September 30, 1892. When taken to 
Fairlawn, Aberdeen had the reputation of being so 
bad tempered as to endanger the lives of his grooms. 
Kind but firm treatment overcame that infirmity, 
however, to a great extent. 

Aberdeen got forty-nine trotters and three pacers that 
made standard records. He is now credited with thir- 
ty-three sons that have sired one hundred and three 



93 



TEE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

trotters and thirty-three pacers with standard records. 
The number of his producing daughters, to the close of 
1903, was forty. They had then produced forty-two 
trotters and nine pacers that had made records in 
standard time. The fastest of his get was Kentucky 
Union (2.071-4), whose dam inherited a large in- 
fusion of running blood. The fastest trotter got by 
a son of Aberdeen is Anzella (2.06 3-4) by Antrim, 
and the fastest trotter produced by a daughter is 
Onward Silver (2.051-4), whose dam, Sylvan Maid, is 
a full sister of Kentucky Union (2.07 1-4). 

The Aberdeen strain seems to nick remarkably well 
with that of Vermont Black Hawk. The most suc- 
cessful son of Aberdeen as a sire of uniform, standard 
speed, is Elial G., whose dam is by Humbird. The 
latter was by Thomas Jefferson, a son of Vermont 
Black Hawk. Elial G. is credited with a greater 
number of standard performers than any other three 
sons of Aberdeen. One of the best campaigners ever 
raised in New England, Alcidalia (2.10 1-4), was by Sir 
Walter, Jr., (2.181-4), a grandson of Aberdeen, and 
Alcidalia's dam, Comee's Sister, was inbred to the Ver- 
mont Black Hawk strain. Wiggins (2), (2.191-2), by 
Aberdeen, has gained considerable prominence recently 
as a sire of early and extreme speed. His daughter, 
Katherine A., won the |6,000 stake for two-year-old 
trotters at the Lexington, Ky., Breeders' meeting, Oc- 
tober 9, 1902, in 2.14, 2.15 1-2, and shares with Janie T. 
the honor of holding the fastest record ever made in a 
race by a two-year-old trotter. 

Egbert. This is another son of Rysdyk's Hamble 
tonian that has gained considerable prominence as a 



94 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

sire of speed. He was bred by J. H. Walker, Worces- 
ter, Mass., and foaled July 9, 1875. He was closely 
Inbred to Rysdyk's Hambletonian and still more 
strongly inbred to old Abdallah, to which he traces 
five times, three times through Rysdyk's Hambleton- 
ian, and twice through Roe's Abdallah Chief. His 
dam was the great brood mare, Camptown, by Mes- 
senger Duroc, son of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, and 
second dam by the Holbert Colt, another son of 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian; third dam. Mayfly, by Utter 
Horse, son of Hoyt's Comet, and fourth dam, Virgo, 
by Roe's Abdallah Chief, son of old Abdallah. The 
dam of Messenger Duroc was also by Roe's Abdallah 
Chief. Some twenty-seven years ago, Wallace's 
Monthly, in commenting on the breeding of Egbert, 
stated that his pedigree showed thirty-five crosses of 
imported Messenger and nineteen crosses of imported 
Diomed. 

Egbert was a dark bay in color, with a very small 
star in forehead, a stripe on his nose and left hind 
ankle white. When young, he had a dark spot on 
the point of his right shoulder. He stood 15.2 hands 
at maturity, and was handsomer than many of the 
sons of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, particularly about the 
head and neck. So far as known Egbert was never 
handled for speed, and there is nothing on record in 
regard to his gait. 

In October, 1877, Mr. Walker disposed of his trot- 
ting stock at public sale, and Egbert, then two years 
old past, brought $3,425 under the hammer. The pur- 
chaser was H. J. Hendryx, Dowagiac, Mich. On the 
following day, if we remember correctly, Mr. Hendryx 

95 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

sold Egbert by telegraph for $4,000 to Messrs. Bou 
denbush and Benton, Reading, Pa. Early in 1880 the 
horse was bought by Colonel Richard West of Lex- 
ington, Ky., and made his first season there in 1880. 
He stood in Kentucky until January, 1893, when he 
was offered at a public sale of trotting stock, conduct- 
ed by Messrs. Woodward and Shanklin, Lexington, 
Ky., and brought |12,500, but did not leave Lexington. 
Two months later, about April 1, 1893, Egbert was 
bought by Messrs. F. M. and D. R. Mills of Des Moines, 
Iowa, and taken there. At that time his list of stand- 
ard performers numbered forty-five trotters and eight 
pacers. Egbert's list of standard performers increased 
so rapidly for the next two or three years as to cause 
some to predict that he would eventually become the 
leading son of Rysdyk's Hambletonian as a sire of 
standard speed, but after going to Iowa he seemed to 
drop so completely out of sight that even the late J. 
H. Wallace, who was always a great admirer of Egbert 
on account of his breeding, had evidently forgotten 
that the horse ever went to Iowa, as he made no men- 
tion of that fact when speaking of Egbert in his last 
work, "The Horse of America," published in 1897. 
Whether Egbert is still living or not is a question. 
We have never seen his death announced, and his 
name has seldom been mentioned late years except as 
it appears in the Great Table of sires of standard per- 
formers. Being so strongly inbred to Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian and old Abdallah, it is natural to expect 
that he would possess greater speed perpetuating abil- 
ity than any of the other sons of his sire. But the 
records do not show that such was the case. None of 



96 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HI8 80NS. 

his get has ever taken a record so fast as 2.10, and 
the total number got by all his sons that entered the 
standard list during the season of 1903 was eight, four 
trotters and four pacers. 

Egbert is now credited with sixty -seven trotters and 
eighteen pacers that have made standard records, 
also with forty-one sons that have sired sixty-six trot 
ters and fifty-three pacers that have taken records in 
standard time; also with forty-five daughters that 
have produced forty trotters and twenty pacers 
with standard records. It should be remembered, 
however, that Egbert was one of the youngest sons 
of Rysdyk's Hambletonian. 

Strathmore. During the season of 1864 Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian received two hundred and seventeen 
patrons. The result was one hundred and forty-eight 
living foals. The following year, 1865, he received 
one hundred and ninety-three patrons, and one hun- 
dred and twenty -eight of them produced foals. One of 
these one hundred and twenty-eight foals was the now 
famous stallion Strathmore, bred by Aristides Welch 
of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pa., and foaled in 
1866. The dam of Strathmore was a famous road 
mare, known as Lady Waltermire. The noted trainer, 
"General" (John E.) Turner once stated that there 
never had been such a road mare in Philadelphia as 
Lady Waltermire, and never would be another. It is 
stated upon good authority that Lady Waltermire 
trotted a mile in 2.32 and repeated in 2.30, pulling a 
skeleton wagon. A Mr. Carl Cockey of Baltimore, one 
of the men who timed her in the above performance, 
bought Lady Waltermire for $2,500. Mr. Cockey sold 

97 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

her to Mr. Welch. Her sire was North American, 
also known as the Bullock Horse, and her dam was 
said to be by Harris Hambletonian, a son of Bishop's 
Hambletonian, by imported Messenger. North Amer- 
ican was bred on Grand Isle, N. Y., and is registered in 
Vol. 1 of the American Trotting Register as by Sir 
Walter; dam a pacer of unknown breeding. Sir Wal- 
ter was running bred. His sire was Hickory by im- 
ported Whip. His dam, Nettletop, was by imported 
Diomed, and his second dam was Betsey Lewis by im- 
ported Shark. The latter was by Marske, sire of the 
renowned English Eclipse. His dam was by Snap, 
son of Snip by Flying Childers, and his second dam 
by Marlborough, a son of Godolphin Arabian. Years 
afterwards, when Mr. Wallace was fighting with all 
his might to eliminate all thoroughbred crosses from 
the pedigrees of successful trotters and trotting sires, 
he substituted a pacing work horse of unknown breed- 
ing for Sir Walter, the sire of North American. This 
was done according to his own admission on the state- 
ment of a man who reported from memory and claimed 
to know nothing about the matter personally, but had 
been told so by another party not then living. The 
evidence, if it may be termed such, upon which this 
pedigree was changed, may be found in Wallace's 
Monthly for February, 1880, page 61. There is not 
the slightest doubt that the pedigree as registered in 
Vol. 1 was correct. 

Strathmore was a bay horse about 15.1 hands high; 
whose conformation in some respects resembled that 
of his sire, particularly his barrel and quarters. His 
head and ears, however, were much finer than those of 

98 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

his sire and his hind legs much straighter than those 
of Hambletonian. It has been stated that Strathmore 
was inclined to pace, but has never been claimed that 
he was trained, or that he ever showed speed at any 
gait. He was first christened Goodwin Watson and 
went by that name until 1873, when he was bought for 
$1,000 by Colonel R. G. Stoner of Paris Ky. His new 
owner changed his name to Strathmore. It is evident 
from the price paid that he was not considered very 
promising as a sire when Colonel Stoner bought him. 
During his first few seasons in Kentucky he received 
but a limited patronage. The first year that he stood 
there he got Santa Claus, that trotted to a record 
of 2.18 as a five-year-old, which at that time, 1879, 
was the fastest record ever made by a five-year-old 
trotter. In 1881 Santa Claus reduced his record to 
2.17 1-2. When Santa Claus was dropped he was so 
crooked and curby that Colonel Stoner tried to per- 
suade his owner to kill the colt, and oflEered him a free 
service of Strathmore if he would do so, but fortunate- 
ly the offer was declined. Had it been accepted there 
would have been no Lou Dillon, 1.58 1-2. The same 
year that Santa Claus secured the world's champion 
record for five-year-old trotters. Stein way, by 
Strathmore, lowered the world's champion record for 
three-year-old trotters to 2.25 3-4. These two 
champion trotters of their respective ages com- 
ing out the same season, opened the eyes of breeders 
to the merits of Strathmore as a sire of speed. He at 
once became a popular sire and was well patronized 
from that time. On Feb. 9, 1886, Colonel Stoner dis- 
posed of about sixty head of trotting stock at public 

99 . ^ 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

sale, and Strathmore among them. Rockhill Bros. & 
Fleming, proprietors of Elmwood Farm, Fort Wayne, 
Ind., bought Strathmore for $2,150, and kept him till 
he broke a leg from falling on the ice, March 13, 1895, 
when they had him killed. 

Although so lightly esteemed in early life, that up 
to the time he was seven years old he had got but 
three foals, Strathmore is now regarded as one of the 
best of the most famous sons of Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian, as a speed perpetuator. His son, Santa Glaus, 
(2.171-2), got Sidney (2.19 3-4), the sire of fifty-eight 
trotters and forty-two pacers that have made standard 
records. Five of these took records as yearlings, viz, 
the trotters Frou Frou (2.25 1-4) and Idah (2.30), and 
the pacers Rosedale (2.22), Fausta (2.22 3-4), and 
William Sidney (2.25). Sidney is the only sire that 
has ever got so many as five that have made standard 
records as yearlings. He got Sidney Dillon, sire of 
the world's champion trotter, Lou Dillon (1.581-2), 
Dolly Dillon (2.06 3-4), etc. Steinway (3) (2.25 3-4) 
by Strathmore got Klatawah, that lowered the world's 
champion record for three-year-old pacers to 2.05 1-2 
in 1898, and that still stands as the fastest ever made 
by a three-year-old pacer. The fastest of the get of 
Strathmore is AhMe Strathmore (2.071-4), and his 
next fastest is Terrill S. (2.081-4). At the close of 
the season of 1903 Strathmore was credited with fifty- 
four trotters and thirty-five pacers that had made 
standard records; also with forty-one sons that had 
sired seventy-two trotters and eighty-two pacers; and 
ninety-three daughters that had produced ninety-six 
trotters and fifty-two pacers with standard records. 



100 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

The only son of Rysdyk's Hambletonian that outranks 
Strathmore as a broodmare sire is George Wilkes, 
then credited with one hundred and one daughters 
that have produced one hundred and thirty-two trot- 
ters and forty-seven pacers which have made records 
in standard time. Ten years hence the daughters of 
Strathmore will have a greater number of standard 
performers to their credit than will those of George 
Wilkes. 

Sweepstakes. Nine other sons of Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian have each sired twenty or more trotters that 
have made standard records. They are Sweepstakes, 
Dauntless, Victor Von Bismarck, Masterlode, Gen. 
Stanton, Jay Gould, Hambletonian Prince, Squire 
Talmage and Messenger Duroc. Sweepstakes, foaled 
in 1867, is credited with thirty-nine trotters and three 
pacers; also with six sons that have sired nine trot- 
ters and four pacers, and twenty-nine of his daugh- 
ters have produced forty-two trotters and six pacers 
with standard records. The dam of Sweepstakes was 
Emma Mills by Seely's American Star; second dam by 
a grandson of Cole's Messenger, the latter by imported 
Messenger. 

Dauntless. Dauntless, foaled in 1867, is the sire 
of thirty-three trotters and three pacers that have 
made standard records; nine of his sons have sired 
seven trotters and six pacers, and eleven of his daugh- 
ters have produced twelve trotters and four pacers 
with standard records. The dam of Dauntless was 
Sally Feagles by Smith's Clay, Jr., he by Cassius M. 
Clay, a son of old Henry Clay, by Andrew Jackson. 



101 



TEE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

His second dam was by Hulse's Hickory, breeding un- 
traced, but believed to have been from running bred 
stock. 

Victor Von Bismarck. Victor Von Bismarck, 
foaled in 1867, is the sire of twenty-nine trotters and 
two pacers, with standard records; also of nineteen 
stallions that have sired seventy trotters and twenty- 
two pacers, and twenty-two mares that have produced 
nineteen trotters and four pacers with standard rec- 
ords. The dam of Victor Von Bismarck was Hat- 
tie Wood (dam of Gazelle, 2.21, etc.), by Sayre's 
Harry Clay (2.29) ; second dam Grandmother by Ter- 
ror, son of American Eclipse; third dam by Cock of 
the Rock, son of Duroc. 

Masterlode. Masterlode, foaled in 1868, is the sire 
of twenty-seven trotters and one pacer with standard 
records. He also got twenty stallions that sired thir- 
ty-four trotters and fifteen pacers, and twenty-eight of 
his daughters have produced thirty-one trotters and 
seven pacers that have made records in standard time. 
The dam of Masterlode was Lady Irwin by Seely's 
American Star, second dam by old Abdallah, son of 
Mambrino. 

General Stanton. General Stanton, foaled in 
1866, got twenty-six trotters and four pacers that made 
standard records. He also got six stallions that have 
sired eight trotters and three pacers, and eight of his 
daughters have produced eight trotters and two 
pacers with standard records. General Stanton.'s 
dam was by one-eyed Kentucky Hunter ; second dam by 
Long Island Black Hawk, son of Andrew Jackson. 

102 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS SONS. 

Jay Gould. Jay Gould (2.211-2), at first called 
Judge Brigham, foaled in 1864, got twenty-six trotters 
and three pacers that have made standard records. 
He also got sixteen stallions that have sired thirty- 
three trotters and twenty pacers, and thirty-seven 
of his daughters have produced sixty-eight trotters 
and five pacers that have made standard records. The 
dam of Jay Gould was Lady Sanford by Seely's 
American Star; second dam Old Sorrell, by Exton 
Eclipse, son of American Eclipse; third dam by Mes- 
senger Duroc, son of Sir Archy Duroc. 

Hambletonian Prince. Hambletonian Prince 
(Baird's), foaled in 1863, is credited with twenty-three 
standard performers, all trotters. Four of his sons 
have sired eleven trotters, and fifteen of his daughters 
have produced fifteen trotters and seven pacers that 
have made standard records. The dam of Hamble- 
tonian Prince was Nelly Cammeyer by Cassius M. 
Clay, son of Henry Clay by Andrew Jackson; second 
dam by Chancellor, son of Mambrino, by imported 
Messenger; third dam by Mt. Holly, a son of imported 
Messenger, and fourth dam by Engineer, son of im- 
ported Messenger. It will be seen that Hambletonian 
Prince was very strongly inbred to imported Messen- 
ger, through both sire and dam. 

Squire Talmage. Squire Talmage (also called 
Strader's Hambletonian), foaled in 1866, has to his 
credit twenty-two trotters and two pacers with stand- 
ard records; ten of his sons have sired sixteen trot- 
ters and nine pacers, and eighteen of his daughters 
have produced twenty-four trotters and two pacers 
that have made records in standard time. The dam 



103 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

of Squire Talmage was Lady Talmage, by Seely's 
American Star. Squire Talmage had a trotting rec- 
ord of 2.39 1-4. 

Messenger Duroc. Messenger Duroc, bay horse, 
foaled in 1865, is credited with twenty-two trotters 
and one pacer that have made standard records; also 
with twenty-five sons that have sired ninety-four trot- 
ters and nineteen pacers with standard records, and 
fifty daughters that have produced sixty-seven trotters 
and six pacers with records in standard time. The 
dam of Messenger Duroc was Satinet by Roe's Ab- 
dallah Chief, a son of old Abdallah; second dam Cat- 
bird by Whistle Jacket, a son of Mambrino; third 
dam by Bertholf Horse, son of imported Messenger, 
and fourth dam by Duroc, son of imported Diomed. 

The Rysdyk's Hambletonian family not only sur- 
passes all the other trotting families in number and 
quality, but is rapidly absorbing all the others and 
bids fair to soon swallow them up completely. The 
stallions that head the studs today of nearly all the 
prominent breeding establishments are direct descend- 
ants of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, and the majority of 
them are members of either the Wilkes, Electioneer, 
Nutwood, Dictator or Harold branches of that fam- 
ily. The Wilkeses are in a large majority and the 
Electioneers next in rank. All the best qualities of the 
extinct trotting families and those that are fast be- 
coming extinct have been engrafted upon and have 
served to improve the families that are crowding them 
out of existence. It is a case of "the survival of the 
fittest," but those which have been forced to succumb, 
or some of them, at least, have exerted an influence 



104 



HAMBLETONIAN AND HIS 80N8. 

that will be felt as long as the American trotter ex- 
ists. These families are really lost only so far as 
name is concerned. The tendency today is to inbreed 
to the Hambletonian strain, and this method of breed- 
ing is producing excellent results. The time may 
come when an outcross may be necessary. There will 
then be plenty of first-class thoroughbred families 
that may be employed to advantage. That is un- 
doubtedly the source from which the American trotter 
has derived the speed, courage and stamina that has 
made him so vastly superior to the trotters produced 
by any other nation in the world. 



105 



Chapter IV. 
MAMBRINO CHIEF FAMILY. 



Lady Thorn (2.181-4). — Herr's Mambrino Patchen, — ^Wood- 
ford Mambrino. — Mambrino King. — Alma Mater. — Prin- 
ceps. — Pancoast. — Fisk's Mambrino Chief, Jr. — Clark 
Chief. — Ericsson. 

Mambrino Chief Family. The Mambrino Chief 
trotting family ranks next in importance to that 
founded by Rysdyk's Hambletonian. Mambrino Chief, 
the founder of the family, was bred by Richard El- 
dridge of Mabbettsville, Duchess county, N. Y., and 
foaled May 9, 1844. His sire was Mambrino Pay- 
master, and his dam was known as the Eldridge Mare. 
Mambrino Paymaster was a large bay horse, 16.2 
hands high, bred by Azariah Arnold of Duchess coun- 
ty, N. Y., and got by Mambrino, the same running bred 
son of imported Messenger, that got Abdallah, the sire 
of Rysdyk's Hambletonian. It has been generally 
conceded that the dam of Mambrino Paymaster was of 
wholly unknown lineage. Vol. 1 of Wallace's Ameri- 
can Trotting Register, in which Mambrino Paymaster 
is registered, states that his dam was by imported 
Paymaster. 



106 



MAMBRINO CHIEF FAMILY. 

When the controversy in regard to the influence of 
a thoroughbred cross in a trotting pedigree waxed ex- 
ceedingly warm, several years ago, it was boldly as- 
serted that there was no truth in the statement that 
the dam of Mambrino Paymaster was by imported 
Paymaster, and that the only ground for the state- 
ment in the first place was a resemblance, real or 
fancied, that this mare bore to imported Paymaster. 
In Vol. 2, Mr. Wallace re-registered Mambrino Pay- 
master with the following change: "Dam, a hand- 
some blood-like bay mare owned by Azariah Arnold 
and represented to be by imported Paymaster, but to- 
ward the end of Mr, Arnold's life he said he did not 
know she was a Paymaster." It seems that Mr. Arnold 
was a man of undoubted veracity who would not know- 
ingly misrepresent. In early life, when his mental 
faculties were unimpaired, Mr. Arnold always stated 
positively that the dam of Mambrino Paymaster was 
by imported Paymaster. After his faculties were so 
impaired by age that he could not recall events clear- 
ly, he undoubtedly did say that he then did not know 
that she was by imported Paymaster. In his last 
work, "The Horse of America," page 260, Mr. Wallace 
says, "I have but little doubt that the Paymaster cross 
is correct." This was considerable for Mr. Wallace to 
admit, and it is safe to say that it settles the matter. 
It was stated years ago upon apparently good au- 
thority that Mambrino Paymaster co'ild show a 2.45 
gait or better at the trot. The only one of his get that 
was successful as a race winner was a bay mare called 
lola that won a two-mile heat race at Union Course, 
L. I., October 23, 1856, in 5.09 1-2, 5.17 1-2, which gave 



107 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

her a record of 2.34 3-4. Mambrino Paymaster was 
blind duriDg several of the last years of his life. 

The dam of Mambrino Chief was a dark brown in 
color, and stood about 15.2 or 15.3 hands high. She 
had considerable substance, but her back was rather 
long, her coupling somewhat slack, and she had less 
width across the loin than was considered desirable 
in a horse of her size, though she was of good width 
across the hips. She was a good, serviceable animal, 
however, a square-gaited trotter, and could undoubt- 
edly pull an ordinary wagon a three-minute gait on the 
road. Her breeding has been the subject of consider- 
able discussion in years past. H. T. Helm, Esq., in- 
vestigated the matter very carefully some twenty-five 
or more years ago, and the circumstantial evidence 
which he obtained is given at length in his interesting 
work published in 1878 entitled " American Roadsters 
and Trotting Horses." Before Mr. Helm investigated 
the facts it was believed that the dam of Mambrino 
Chief came to New York from one of the Western 
States in a drove of horses brought by a Mr. Nichol- 
son to Washington Hollow, N. Y. A Mr. G. G. Sharp- 
stein, who knew the dam of Mambrino Chief well, 
wrote of her as follows : 

The dam of Mambrino Chief was brought to our town by 
Mr. Nicholson. I saw her the day she arrived with others. 
She was bought some fifty or sixty miles west of Kingston, 
N. Y. She was a large, coarse, brown or black mare, I think 
without white marks, at least not conspicuous. I saw her 
almost every week for ten years. 

A careful examination of the circumstantial evi- 
dence that Mr. Helm collected and presented in hia 
interesting work will convince every unprejudiced 



108 



MAMBRINO CHIEF FAMILY. 

man that there is a strong probability that the dam of 
Mambrino Chief was got by old Messenger Duroc. 
The latter was by Duroc, and his dam was by imported 
Messenger. The fact that the best trotter got by 
Mambrino Chief, Lady Thorn (2.181-4), and that 
Mambrino Chiefs most successful son, as a sire and 
perpetuator of speed, Mambrino Patchen, were from 
a mare in which the Duroc and Messenger strains were 
prominent, is another thread which tends to strength- 
en the probability that the Eldridge mare, Mambrino 
Chief's dam, was by old Messenger Duroc. 

Mambrino Chief was a rich brown in color, fully 
sixteen hands high, and when in stud condition 
weighed upwards of 1,300 pounds. He was a natural 
trotter and could probably show as much speed as any 
trotting stallion of his day. When he was three years 
old Mr. Richard Eldridge, who bred him, sold Mam- 
brino Chief to Warren Williams. Mr. Williams broke 
the colt to harness and kept him four seasons for stock 
purposes. After the death of Mr. Warren Williams in 
1851, Mambrino Chief was bought by George T. Wil- 
liams, who shortly afterwards sold a half interest in 
the horse to James M. Cockroft, who lived a few 
months each year at Washington Hollow, N. Y, Pre- 
vious to the time that Mr. Cockroft purchased Mam- 
brino Chief he had never been trained or driven on a 
track. He showed so much speed on the road, how- 
ever, that in the fall of 1852 Mr. Cockroft took the 
horse to a slow half-mile track at Washington Hol- 
low, to test his speed. The first time that he was 
started on a track he trotted a mile to saddle in 2.36, 
ridden by Seymour Tomlinson. After cooling ont, 

109 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Mambrino Chief was hitched to sulky and trotted an- 
other mile in 2.40. After this trial Mr. Cockroft drove 
Mambrino Chief to the track occasionally and worked 
him some that season, and also during the season of 
1853. It is stated upon good authority that on one oc- 
casion the horse trotted a mile in 2.32 and showed 
quarters on several occasions in 37 seconds, a 2.28 gait. 
In the winter of 1854, Edwin Thome, Esq., a wealthy 
gentleman of Millbrook, Duchess county, N. Y., who 
loved a fast trotter, and at one time and another 
owned many of them, bought Mambrino Chief for 
James B. Clay, Esq., then proprietor of the famous 
Ashland Farm, near Lexington, Ky. It was under- 
stood that the price paid was |3,000. Mambrino 
Chief was taken to Ashland Farm in February, 1854, 
and was so highly appreciated by Kentucky horsemen 
that, within an hour from the time of his arrival 
there, twenty mares had been booked to him. He 
stood for public service at Ashland Farm three sea- 
sons. At the end of that time the horse was bought 
by Messrs. Gray and Jones for |5,020, and taken to the 
farm of Colonel Louis Jones, Woodford county, Ky., 
where he was kept until his death, which occurred 
March 28, 1862. He made eight seasons in Kentucky. 
Counting his three-year-old form, he made seven sea- 
sons in New York State, before going to Kentucky-, but 
was not extensively patronized there. It is probable 
that only about one hundred and twenty-five foals re- 
sulted from his services in New York State. He got 
in all six trotters that took records of 2.30 or better, 
and it is a significant fact that every one of the six 
was bred in Kentucky. Not one of those that he got 



110 



MAMBBINO CHIEF FAMILY. 

in New York State, where trotting mares, and cold- 
blooded ones, were much more plentiful than in Ken- 
tucky, ever trotted to a record of 2.30. The fastest of 
his get was Lady Thorn (2.181-4), whose dam, the 
Eodes mare, was by the running bred Gano, and 
whose second dam was by the son of Sir William, he 
by the renowned Sir Archy, and whose third dam was 
a very blood like pacer. Gano, sire of the Rodes mare, 
was by the noted four-mile running race winner, Amer- 
ican Eclipse, whose sire was Duroc, and whose dam 
was the successful race mare. Miller's Damsel, by im- 
ported Messenger. The dam of Gano was Betsey 
Richards, by Sir Archy. 

The next fastest trotter got by Mambrino Chief was 
Woodford Mambrino (2.211-2). The dam of Wood- 
ford Mambrino was the great brood mare Woodbine, 
that also produced Wedge wood (2.19). Woodbine's 
sire was Woodford, a running bred son of Kosciusko, 
by Sir Archy. Mambrino Chief is credited with 
twenty-three sons that have sired a total of ninety-six 
that have taken records, and all of them were trotters. 
He is also credited with seventeen daughters that pro- 
duced twenty-four with standard records, all trotters. 
His daughters also produced forty-nine stallions that 
have sired standard speed. Some of the most noted 
sires from daughters of Mambrino Chief are Almont,. 
Belmont, Director (2.17), Onward (2.251-4), and Red 
Wilkes. 

Hbrr's Mambrino Patchen. The most successful 
son of Mambrino Chief as a sire and perpetuator of 
speed was Herr's Mambrino Patchen. The dam of the 
latter was the Rodes mare, dam of Lady Thorn 



111 ^ 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

(2.181-4), and her breeding is given above. Mambri- 
no Patchen was a full brother of Mambrino Chiefs 
fastest trotter, Lady Thorn (2.181-4). He was a 
handsome, smoothly turned and highly finished black 
horse, about sixteen hands high. He was bred by Dr. 
J. Herr, Lexington, Ky., and foaled in 1862. When in 
his yearling form Dr. Herr sold Mambrino Patchen 
to Mr. John K. Alexander of Illinois for |1,500, a very 
large price for a yearling colt at that early day. Dr. 
Herr then owned Mambrino Pilot, by Mambrino Chief. 
The following year he sold Mambrino Pilot for $10,000, 
and immediately bought Mambrino Patchen, then a 
two-year-old. He was never raced, and, judging from 
Dr. Herr's statement concerning the horse, was not 
worked much for speed. He was trotting gaited, how- 
ever, and on one occasion was timed a quarter in 40 
seconds. It has been reported that Mambrino Patch- 
en's sire was a Denmark horse. The matter was fully 
discussed last season and evidence so positive and 
conclusive was brought to light as to leave not the 
slightest room to doubt that his sire was Mambrino 
Chief. 

Mambrino Patchen was the sire of twenty-five that 
made records in standard time, all trotters. He is 
credited with fifty-three sons that sired one hundred 
and fifty-eight trotters, and forty pacers with standard 
records; also with one hundred and two daughters 
that up to the close of the season of 1903 had produced 
one hundred and thirty-five trotters and seventeen 
pacers, which had taken standard records. A few 
years ago Mambrino Patchen stood at the head of all 
stallions as a brood mare sire and still ranks well up 



112 



MAMBRINO CHIEF FAMILY. 

among the very best in that respect. 

Mambrino King. Mambrino Patchen's most suc- 
cessful son as a sire was Mambrino King, owned 
for many years at Village Farm. When in his 
prime Mambrino King was generally admitted to 
be one of the handsomest horses in America, 
by some pronounced the handsomest. When Mr. 
C. J. Hamlin paid |10,000 for Mambrino King 
to place at the head of Village Farm stud, he 
was ridiculed unsparingly by many turf writers, and 
some practical breeders, owing to the fact that his 
blood inheritage was derived chiefly from ancestors 
that were trained and raced at the running gait. His 
dam was by Alexander's Edwin Forrest, a horse that 
got trotters, though so far as known his onlv claim to 
trotting inheritance was a remote cross to imported 
Messenger. Edwin Forrest was a direct descendant 
through sire and dam of imported Brown Highlander. 
The latter was inbred to Byerley Turk, Darley 
Arabian and Godolphin Arabian. The second dam 
of Mambrino King was by Birmingham, a run- 
ning bred son of Stockholder, by Sir Archy ; third dam 
by Bertrand, another famous son of Sir Archy, and 
fourth dam by Robert Bruce, he by Clinton, and he 
by Sir Charles, another noted son of Sir Archy. 

Mambrino King is credited with fifty-three trot- 
ters and sixteen pacers that have made standard 
records. More than one-third of the trotters 
and pacers got by the fifty-three sons of Mambrino 
Patchen, that sired trotters and pacers which took 
records in standard time, were got by Mambrino King. 
The total number got by the other fifty-two sons was 

113 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

one hundred and five trotters and twenty-four pacers. 
f'^.ight of the get of Mambrino King have made records 
from 2.04 1-4 to 2.10 and his daughters have produced 
eight that have taken records from 2.03 1-4, 2.09 3-4. 

Mambrino King was credited at the close of 1903 
with twenty-six sons that had got one hundred and 
two trotters and forty-eight pacers with standard rec- 
ords; also with fifty-nine daughters that had pro- 
duced fifty-one trotters and thirty-four pacers which 
had made records in standard time. The best son of 
Mambrino King, as a sire of sp>eed, is Elyria, trotting 
record 2.25 1-4. Elyria was foaled in 1882, and up to 
the present time not less than eighty-four of his sons 
and daughters have made records of 2.30 or better, 
sixty-five of which are trotters. This is a greater 
number of 2.30 performers than has been got by any 
other stallion in the whole of the Mambrino Chief 
family. The dam of Elyria was by Bradford's Tele- 
graph, a son of Vermont Black Hawk that died at Au- 
gusta, Kentucky, in 1876. The second dam of Elyria 
was by Prince Edward, a running bred son of Sir 
Charles, by Sir Archy. 

Alma Mater. The most successful daughter of 
Mambrino Patchen, as a producer and perpetuator of 
speed, was Alma Mater. She was the dam of eight 
that made records of 2.30 or better, all trotters. 
Among the eight are the successful sires, Alcantara, 
Alcyone, Allandorf and Alfonso. The dam of Alma 
Mater was Estella, by imported Australian, and her sec- 
ond dam was Fanny G. by imported Margrave. A 
daughter of Fanny G. produced the famous brood 
mare Dame Winnie, dam of Palo Alto (2.08 3-4) and 



114 



MAMBRINO CHIEF FAMILY. 

four other trotters that have made records in standard 
time. The number of standard performers produced 
by Alma Mater, together with those sired by her sons 
and produced by her daughters, up to the close of 
1903, was greater than that of any other mare that 
ever lived. Alma Mater's performers numbered two 
hundred and seventy eight, those of Mambrino Chief'a 
famous daughter, old Dolly, two hundred and fifty- 
six; of Miss Russell, the greatest daughter of Pilot, 
Jr., two hundred and fifty-four; of Green Mountain 
Maid, dam of Electioneer, etc., two hundred and twen- 
ty-six, and those of the renowned Beautiful Bells 
(2.29 1-2) numbered two hundred and nineteen. This 
seems almost incredible, but the figures are taken 
from the Year Book of 1903, and are correct. 

Woodford Mambrino (2.211-2). The son of 
Mambrino Chief that ranks next to Mambrino Patch- 
en, as a sire and perpetuator of speed, was Woodford 
Mambrino (2.211-2). He was bred at Woodburn 
Farm and foaled in 1863. He was a rich mahogany 
bay in color and stood 15.3 hands in height. A thor- 
ough horseman who examined Woodford Mambrino 
critically describes him as follows: ^'He had a well 
formed, clean cut head, with a game-cock throttle, full 
intelligent eye, denoting resolution and courage, with 
a well shaped ear. Smaller and more highly formed 
than is peculiar to the Mambrino Chief family ; a well 
proportioned, slightly arching neck of good length, 
sloping shoulder, well rounded barrel of good length, 
a strong loin, well proportioned hips, croup moderate- 
ly sloping to a well formed tail, which was well car- 
ried. He had strong, well-rounded quarters, excel- 



115 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

lent legs and feet, with bone of ivory texture, and ten- 
dons of catgut and steel, giving them the hard, firm 
appearance as if intended for the wear and tear of 
campaign life. He was, in short, a perfect type of the 
high formed American trotting horse of thoroughbred 
appearance." 

His dam, as has already been stated, was the great 
brood mare Woodbine, that produced Wedgewood 
(2.19). Woodbine was by Woodford, and he by Kos- 
ciusko, a son of the renowned Sir Archy. The dam of 
Kosciusko was Lottery, by imported Bedford, and the 
latter by Dungannon, a son of the invincible race 
horse English Eclipse. The second dam of Kosciusko 
was imported Anvilina, by Anvil, and he by the re- 
nowned Herod, one of the most successful sires of 
race winners in England in his day. Kosciusko was 
a full brother of Saxe Weimer. The latter got the 
second dam of the famous brood mare Dolly, by Mam- 
brino Chief. He also got the second dam of Ben 
Franklin, the sire of old Dolly's dam. The dam of 
Woodford, sire of Woodbine, was by Hancock's Ham- 
lintonian, a son of Hamiltonian, by imported Diomed. 
The proprietor of Woodburn Farm did not make a 
practice of developing and racing the trotters that he 
bred, but Woodford Mambrino was so promising that 
he made an exception in his case. He started him in 
a three-year-old race at Louisville, Ky., November 2, 
1866, and won, giving him a record of 2.40 in the sec- 
ond heat. In November of that year Woodford Mam- 
brino trotted a trial mile in 2.38 1-4. He was used 
some for stock purposes, and also handled some for 
speed each season. In 1870 he trotted a trial mile in 



116 



MAMBRINO CHIEF FAMILY. 

2.24 1-4. The next year, 1871, he trotted a mile 
in 2.23 3-4. In 1872 he suffered from a fistula 
of the withers, that finally caused his death 
several years later. He was not worked for 
speed that season or the following one, but was put 
in training again in 1874 and that fall trotted a public 
trial over the Lexington, Ky., track in 2.20 1-4. He 
was kept in the stud the two following seasons, but 
in 1877 was worked again, and August 23, that year, 
took a record of 2.34 1-4 in a race which he won at 
Cynthiana, Ky. Later he trotted a trial mile in 2.21 
on the slow Woodburn Farm track, and in October of 
that year Mr. Alexander, proprietor of Woodburn 
Farm, sold Woodford Mambrino to L. B. Dubois, who 
sold him a few months later to R. C. Pate of St. 
Louis, Mo. The horse was campaigned by Mr. Pate in 
1878 and established a reputation for gameness 
equalled by few trotters and seldom surpassed by any. 
Though suffering from fistula and weakened by its con- 
stant drain upon the system, Woodford Mambrino 
started in fifteen races in 1878 and won first money 
in seven of them. He made his record, 2.21 1-2, in 
the first heat of a race that he won at Minneapolis, 
Minn., September 4, 1878, when he beat such fast 
game trotters as Bonesetter (2.19), Indianapolis 
(2.21), and Scott's Thomas (2.21). 

Woodford Mambrino died March 30, 1879, at the 
stable of his owner, R. C. Pate, St. Louis, Mo. He 
did not leave a very numerous progeny, as he had not 
been extensively patronized while at Woodburn Farm. 
He is credited with thirteen trotters that made records 
from 2.191-2 to 2.30, and with twenty-five sons that 



117 



THE AM E RIG AN TROTTER. 

have sired one hundred and forty-three trotters and 
twenty-five pacers ; also with twenty-six daughters that 
produced forty-two trotters that have made standard 
records. 

Princeps. The son of Woodford Mambrino that 
has sired the greatest number of 2.30 performers is 
Princeps, whose dam, Primrose, was by Alexander's 
Abdallah, and whose second dam was the famous 
Black Rose, by Tom Teemer. Princeps sired fifty-two 
standard performers, forty-seven of which were trot- 
ters. He is credited with forty-one sons that have 
sired one hundred and sixty-one trotters and thirty- 
five pacers; also with forty-seven daughters that have 
produced fifty-three trotters and ten pacers that have 
made standard records. Princeps' best son is Earl 
(2.23 3-4), sire of twenty-seven standard performers, 
all trotters. 

Pancoast (2.213-4). The next best son of Wood- 
ford Mambrino as a sire, was Pancoast (2.213-4), for 
which J. H. Shults, Parkville, N. Y., paid |28,000 at 
auction at the McFerran dispersal sale in Kentucky. 
The dam of Pancoast was Bicara, by Harold, and his 
second dam was Belle (the dam of Alexander's 
Belmont) by Mambrino Chief. Pancoast was injured 
severely after Mr. Shults bought him, by a bolt of 
lightning, which rendered him incapable of use in the 
stud for some time. But for this injury he would un- 
doubtedly have proved more successful in the stud 
than he did. He is now credited with twenty- trotters 
and five pacers that have made standard records ; with 
eighteen sons that have sired one hundred and fifty- 
two standard performers, one hundred and fifteen of 



118 



MAMBBINO CHIEF FAMILY. 

which were trotters; also with fifteen daughters that 
have produced twenty-one trotters and three pacers 
that have made records in standard time. Some of 
the fastest performers in the Mambrino Chief family 
were got by sons of Pancoast, including Alix 
(2.03 3-4), whose sire was Patronage; John Nolan (4) 
(2.08), by Prodigal (2.16), a brother of Patronage; 
Ananias (2.05), Caspian (2.071-4) and Caracalla 
(2.10), all got by Patron (2.141-4), another brother 
of Patronage. 

Mambrino Pilot. Mambrino Pilot, by Mambrino 
Chief, gained quite a reputation as a sire. He got nine 
trotters that made standard records, and one of them 
was Mambrino Gift, the first stallion to take a trotting 
ecord of 2.20. The fastest of Mambrino Pilots get 
was Hannis (2.17 3-4), and he is proving the best of 
his sons as a sire of standard speed. The dam of 
Mambrino Pilot was Juliet, by Fiiut, Jr. ; second dam 
by Webster, a son of the running bred Medoc, and 
third dam by American Eclipse, the noted four-mile 
running race horse. 

Fiske's Mambrino Chibp_, Je. Fiske's Mambrino 
Chief, Jr., is another son of Mambrino Chief that was 
valued quite highly as a sire. He got six trotters with 
records of 2.30 or better, the best of which was Mam- 
brino Sparkle (2.17). His daughters were more high 
ly valued than his sons as speed perpetuators. They 
produced in all twenty-three with standard records, 
including Phoebe Wilkes (2.081-2). The dam of 
Fiske's Mambrino Chief was the second dam of Mam- 
brino King. She was by Birmingham, a son of Stock- 
holder, by Sir Archy ; dam by Bertrand, by Sir Archy, 



119 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

and second dam by Sumpter, by Sir Archy. 

Clark Chief. Clark Chief was another successful 
son of Mambrino Chief as a sire. He died when but 
ten years old, yet he got six trotters with records 
from 2.191-4 to 2.30. Kentucky Prince, by Clark 
Chief, was a successful sire of speed. Daughters of 
Clark Chief were very successful as brood mares. 
They produced such performers as Martha Wilkes 
(2.08), W. H. G. (2.09 1-2), Phallas (2.13 3-4), etc. 

Ericsson, Ericsson was another son of Mambrino 
Chief that gained distinction, both as a trotter and 
perpetuator of speed. He was one of the largest 
sons of Mambrino Chief. He took a record of 2.30 1-2 
to wagon as a four-year-old, the best that had ever 
been made by a four-year-old at that time. He sired 
six trotters that took records of 2.30 or better. 
Daughters of Ericsson were quite successful brood 
mares. One of them produced Moquette (4) (2.10). 

The Mambrino Chief trotting family was a valuable 
one, but the best representatives of the family have a 
cross of Rysdyk's Hambletonian close up. Very few 
prominent stock farms in America have a stallion 
at the head of the stud that is a direct descendant in 
the paternal line of Mambrino Chief. The family is 
being gradually but surely absorbed by that of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian, and it is probable that, like that of 
many less prominent families, it will in time become 
extinct. 



120 



Chapter V. 
THE CLAY FAMILY. 



Henry Clay.— Cassius M. Clay.— Geo. M. Fatchen (2.23 1-2),— 
Neave's Cassius M. Clay, Jr. — The Moor. — Sayre's Harry 
Clay (2.29).— Other Clay Stallions. 

Grand Bashaw. The Clay family comes next in 
order. The founder of this family, a horse known 
and registered as Henry Clay, was a direct descendant 
in the paternal line of an imported barb stallion 
known and registered as Grand Bashaw. He was 
brought to America from Tripoli, and it was stated 
on excellent authority that he was a barb of the 
purest lineage, and from the very choicest of that 
famous stock. He was a small horse, about 14.1 hands 
high, but of beautiful conformation, black in color, 
with a small white star in forehead and snip on the 
nose. Grand Bashaw was imported in 1820 and died 
in Pennsylvania in 1845. During the first year that 
Grand Bashaw stood for service in America, 1821, a 
mare called Pearl was mated with him. Her sire 
was Bond's First Consul, a running bred horse, that 
was raced very successfully. His racing career began 
when he was three years old. During that season and 



121 



THE A3IERIGAN TROTTER. 

the five following ones he won twenty-one races with- 
out suffering a single defeat. He was not beaten un- 
til the sixth season that he was on the turf, when in 
his eight-year-old form. 

Bond's First Consul was by Flag of Truce. Hi8 
dam was by imported Slender and his second dam 
was imported Dian, by the renowned English Eclipse. 
Imported Slender, sire of the dam of Bond's First 
Consul, was a brother in blood of the famous High- 
flyer, one of the most noted sons of the renowned 
Herod. Highflyer was one of the very few horses that 
was never beaten in a race and never paid forfeit. 
Slender was by Herod and his dam was a full sister to 
the dam of Highflyer. Flag of Truce, the sire of 
Bond's First Consul, was equally as well bred as the 
dam of the latter. His sire was Snap, a son of Snip, 
by the renowned Flying Childers. He was also 
strongly inbred to the famous Godolphin Arabian. 
The dam of Pearl was by imported Messenger, and her 
second dam was by imported Rockingham. 

Young Bashaw. In 1822 Pearl produced a colt- 
foal, now known as Young Bashaw, a grey horse 
that stood about 15.1 hands at maturity, was some- 
what angular in conformation, with a coarse, homely 
head and neck, but excellent legs and feet, and a born 
trotter. The excellent trotting action and remark- 
able speed for that early day that Young Bashaw 
showed, induced breeders to mate about a dozen mares 
with him in 1826, when in his four-year-old form. 
The result was eight foals, and seven of them showed 
unusual speed at the trot. One of the twelve mated 



122 



THE CLAY FAMILY. 

with him the above season was a stoutly made, short- 
legged, double-gaited black mare, that both trotted and 
paced. It was claimed that she came from the West 
to Philadelphia in a drove of horses and it is generally 
understood that she was brought from Ohio. It is 
more probable, however, that she was raised in Penn- 
sylvania at some point west of Philadelphia. It was 
claimed at one time that she was by Why Not, a son 
of imported Messenger, but that claim was not sub- 
stantiated. It is much more probable that she was 
of Messenger descent, however, than that she came 
from as far West as Ohio at that early day. 

Andrew Jackson. In 1827 this double-gaited black 
mare produced a black colt by Young Bashaw. This 
colt was foaled the property of Mr. Daniel Jaffries, a 
brick manufacturer near Philadelphia. The colt was 
named Andrew Jackson, and though not very prom- 
ising at first, he became one of the fastest trotting 
stallions of his day. He won a race of two mile heats 
to saddle at Philadelphia, Pa., October 27, 1835, beat- 
ing Lady Washington and Daniel D. Tompkins in 
5.20, 5.17. He could probably trot a mile to saddle 
close to 2.32 when in his prime. 

Andrew Jackson was the most distinguished of all 
the get of Young Bashaw, and the only one that 
proved successful as a speed perpetuator. The most 
noted of the get of Andrew Jackson were Kemble 
Jackson (2.34 to wagon). Long Island Black Hawk 
(2.38 to wagon), and Henry Clay. Kemble Jackson 
died young and left but few foals. None of his get 
ever took records in standard time. 



123 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Long Island Black Hawk. Long Island Black 
Hawk died when but thirteen years old. His only 
2.30 trotter was Prince (2.24 1-2). Seven of the sons 
of Long Island Black Hawk are found in the Great 
Table of Sires of 2.30 performers in the Year Book. 
One of these seven was Vernol's Black Hawk that 
got Green's Bashaw, founder of quite a family of 
trotters, but which is now nearly extinct. Henry 
Clay's name does not appear among the trotters with 
records in Chester's Complete Trotting and Pacing 
Records, but as a perpetuator of trotting speed he 
surpassed all the other sons of Andrew Jackson. 

Henry Clay. Henry Clay, founder of the Clay 
family of trotters, was bred by George M. Patchen 
of Brooklyn, N. Y., and foaled in 1837. His sire was 
Andrew Jackson, by Young Bashaw. His dam was 
taken to New Y'^ork city from the town of Surrey, 
N. H. She was generally known as the Surrey Mare, 
but was sometimes called Lady Surrey. She was used 
for a time as a saddle mare and it was said that 
she paced when ridden to saddle, but she finally be- 
came quite a fast trotter. Nothing whatever is 
known of her blood lines or her origin. Neither is 
there any proof that she was a natural pacer. Some 
have pronounced the Clay family soft, but, if so, that 
quality must have come from the Surrey Mare. 

Henry Clay was black in color, with a white cres- 
cent or half moon in the forehead, between the eyes, 
and one white foot behind. It is stated upon good 
authority that he stood about 15.1 hands at maturity. 
He had a good-sized head, and his large, pleasant eyes 
gave him an intelligent, attractive countenance. His 

124 



THE CLAY FAMILY. 

ears were of moderate length, but the distance be- 
tween them was greater than that of the average highly 
bred horses. His neck was of medium length and well 
set upon oblique shoulders. He was deep through the 
lungs and heart, and had a strong, well-ribbed, round 
barrel of good length. His back was rather long and 
his coupling extended farther back towards the roots 
of his tail than that of the founders of most of the 
other trotting families. His hips were of good length 
and his rump somewhat steep and drooping. His legs 
were clean and strong, his joints sound and firm and 
his feet excellent, but his hind leg was shaped some- 
what after the sickle formation. He was a horse of 
good substance, and his bone was of the dense, ivory- 
like texture which horsemen admire. He was a good- 
gaited, natural trotter and an untiring roadster. He 
was considered a promising trotter when young and 
it is stated upon good authority that in his early days 
he was handled some for speed. 

In 1845 Mr. Patchen sold Henry Clay to General 
Wadsworth of Livingston county, N. Y. The price, if 
we rememeber correctly, was one dollar a pound, and 
the weight of the horse one thousand pounds. Gen- 
eral Wadsworth owned the horse for several years and 
allowed him to stand for public service at various 
places. In 1854 he became the property of Bailey 
Brothers of Bristol, N. Y. The horse was also at Bris- 
tol some during the seasons of 1845, 1846 and 1847. 
He was blind for several years previous to his death, 
which occurred in 1867. 

Henry Clay did not make a great showing as a sire 
of 2.30 performers. He is credited with only two 



125 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

trotters that took records in standard time. It must 
be borne in mind, however, that he was always kept 
in New York State, and that Mambrino Chief did stud 
service there seven seasons without getting a single 
standard performer. In addition to the trotters Black 
Douglass (2.30) and Jericho (2.30), Henry Clay also 
got Centreville (trotting record to wagon 2.31), and 
Andy Johnson (2.32). 

Three sons of Henry Clay are found in the Great 
Table in the Year Book. They are Andy Johnson, 
Cassius M. Clay and Henry Clay, Jr. His daughters 
produced six trotters that took records in standard 
time, the fastest of which was the renowned trotting 
sire George Wilkes (2.22). The only one of the sons 
of Henry Clay through which the family is now being 
perpetuated is Cassius M. Clay, whose registered num- 
ber is eighteen. 

Cassius M. Clay. Cassius M. Clay was a dark 
bay borse of powerful build, not far from sixteen 
hands high. He v/as bred by Joseph Oliver, Brooklyn, 
N. Y., and foaled in 1843. His dam was a 15.3 hand, 
spirited bay, known as Jersey Kate. It was claimed 
at one time that she was by Mambrino, son of im- 
ported Messenger, but the claim was not substan- 
tiated. She possessed unusual merit, however, if her 
breeding is unknown, for before being mated with 
Henry Clay she produced the trotter John Anderson 
(2.41). Cassius M. Clay was bought by Mr. George 
M. Patchen of Brooklyn, N. Y., who kept him for 
stock purposes in New York State until his death, 
which occurred in July, 1854, when the horse was 
eleven years old. Although he showed good trotting 



126 



TEE CLAY FAMILY. 

action and probably considerable speed for his day, 
he was not credited with a record. Eight of his get. 
were raced some, bnt he is credited with only one in 
the 2.30 list. That one, however, George M. Patchen 
(2,23 1-2), was one of the greatest trotters of his day. 
Nine of the sons of Cassius M. Clay sired trotters that 
made records in standard time, and his daughters pro- 
duced one trotter that took a record of just 2,30. 

George M, Patchen (2,231-2), The fastest of the 
get of Cassius M, Clay was the famous trotting stallion 
George M. Patchen, that lowered the world's champion 
trotting stallion record to 2,23 1-2, George M, Patch- 
en was foaled in 1849 and won his first race in 1854, 
taking a record of 2.41. In 1859 he won eight races, 
beating some famous trotters, including Lancet, and 
took a record of 2.25 1-4. In 1860 he beat Ethan Allen 
(2.25 1-2) twice, and also beat the famous Flora Tem- 
ple (2.19 3-4) twice. The latter beat him nine times 
that season, however, although in one of the nine he 
won a heat from her in 2.23 1-2, the fastest ever won 
by a trotting etallion up to that time. He was cam- 
paigned four seasons in all, viz. : 1857, 1859, 1860, 
1863, and won twenty races. 

The Clay family has been denounced by some as 
quitters; George M. Patchen, however, won the ad- 
miration of all horsmen by his unflinching gameness 
and great endurance. Many of his races were against 
Flora Temple (2.19 3-4), the champion trotter of her 
day, and though she beat him in the majority of them, 
he was never accused of not trying to beat her at every 
stage of the game. The greatest reinsman and best 

127 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

authority of his day, Hiram Woodruff, said of George 
M. Patchen in his Trotting Horse of America: 

There had not been another horse that had been so close 
to Flora Temple herself in speed, in ability to stay a dis- 
tance, and in apparent endurance and capacity to keep at it 
race after race as George M. Patchen. He beat her more 
heats than any other horse, and most of the heats in which 
she beat him were very fast and close. He met her, too, at 
the golden prime of her life, when she had just reached the 
full maturity of her extraordinary power. 

George M. Patchen was foaled in 1849 and died May 
1, 1864. He was a brown horse, strong, sixteen hands 
high, of powerful conformation, a trifle coarse about 
the head, and heavy in the carcass, but a slashing gait- 
ed, honest, reliable trotter. His dam was by a running 
bred colt called Head'em. The latter was by imported 
Trustee, and his dam was Itasca, by the noted four- 
mile race winner, American Eclipse. The second dam 
of Head'em was Betsey Ransom, by Virginian, a son 
of Sir Archy. Four of the get of George M. Patchen 
made trotting records in standard time. The fastest 
of these was Lucy (2.181-4). He is credited with 
fourteen sons that sired sixty-one trotters and two 
pacers with records in standard time; also with four 
daughters that produced four trotters and one pacer 
with standard records. His most successful sons as 
sires of speed were Seneca Patchen, George M. Patch- 
en, Jr. (2.27), and Godfrey Patchen. 

Neaves' Cassius M. Clay, Jr. The most successful 
son of Cassius M. Clay as a perpetuator of speed waa 
Neaves' Cassius M. Clay, Jr., whose registered number 
is twenty. He was a brown horse, bred by Charles 
Mitchell, Manhassett, N. Y., and foaled in 1858, His 



128 



TEE CLAY FAMILY. 

dam was by Chancellor and Chancellor was by Mam- 
brino, son of imported Messenger, his dam being a 
daughter of imported Messenger. The second dam of 
Neaves' Cassius M. Clay, Jr., was by Engineer 2d, he 
by Engineer, a son of imported Messenger. Engineer 
2d got the renowned Lady Suffolk (2.291-2). It ap- 
pears that Neaves' Cassius M. Clay inherited four 
crosses of imported Messenger, three through his dam 
and one through Young Bashaw. Neaves' Cassius M. 
Clay got four trotters that took standard records and 
four of his sons were sires of standard performers. 
The most noted of his sons as perpetuators of speed 
were Clay Pilot and Sayre's Harry Clay (2.29). Clay 
Pilot was bred by Colonel James Morgan of Cincin- 
nati, O., and foaled in 1862. In Wallace's American 
Trotting Register the dam of Clay Pilot is given as "a 
catch filly, sire unknown; second dam Kate (grandam 
of Almont) by Pilot, Jr., son of old Pacing Pilot." 
There is pretty strong evidence, however, that the dam 
of Clay Pilot was by old Pacing Pilot, the sire 
of Pilot, Jr.; second dam by Grey Eagle, a 
running-bred son of Woodpecker, by Bertrand; 
and third dam by Bertrand, son of Sir Archy. 
There is but slight doubt that Kate, the grandam 
of Almont, was from a daughter of Grey Eagle. 
The wires seem to be crossed in this pedigree, 
as given by the register and the man who bred Clay 
Pilot. The latter, however, should be the better au- 
thority. Clay Pilot was a fast natural trotter. He 
got three that made records in standard time, two of 
which were trotters. He left one son, however, The 



129 



^HE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Moor (2.37), that was one of the most remarkable sires 
of uniform trotting speed of his day. 

The Moor. The Moor was foaled in 1867 and died 
in 1875. His dam, Belle of Wabash, trotting record 
2.40, was running bred, and is so registered in Vol. 6 
of Bruce's American Stud Book, Page 1,077. Her sire 
was Young Bassinger, by Lieutenant Bassinger, and 
her dam was William The IV. mare. It is stated upon 
good authority that The Moor got but fifty-one foals in 
all, and six of them made trotting records of 2.30 or 
better. The three most noted of these were the stal- 
lion's Sultan (2.24) and Del Sur (2.24) and the famous 
brood mare Beautiful Bells (2.291-2). The latter is 
the dam of eleven trotters that made records from 
2.12 3-4 to 2.291-2, two of which made yearling rec- 
ords respectively of 2.26 1-4 and 2.23. 

The Moor is credited with three sons that are sires 
and ten daughters that are producers of standard 
performers. His ten daughters have produced twenty- 
five trotters and one pacer that have made records in 
standard time. The most successful of his sons is 
Sultan (2.24) and Sultan's dam was strong in the 
blood of imported Messenger. She was by Delmonico, 
whose sire, Guy Miller, was by Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian, and whose dam, the Adams mare, was also by 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian, and from a daughter of im- 
ported Bellfounder, sire of the dam of Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian. The second dam of Sultan was Celeste, by 
Mambrino Chief, and third dam. Big Nora, by Down- 
ing's Bay Messenger, a son of Harpinus, by Bishop's 
Hambletonian by imported Messenger. Sultan is 
credited with forty-two trotters and ten pacers that 

130 



TEE CLAY FAMILY. 

have made standard records with twenty-four sons 
that Lave sired ninety-two trotters and eighteen pacera 
with standard records; also with thirty-two daughter:? 
that hiive j>roduced thirty-five trotters and nine pacers 
that have nade records in standard time. 

Stamboul (2.071-2). The fastest trotter and most 
successful sire of speed got by Sultan was Stamboul. 
that trotted a mile in 2.07 1-2 against time, in an ef- 
fort to beat 2.08 at Stockton, California, November 23, 
1891. The performance was not accepted as a record, 
however, by the Register Association, as some of the 
rules of that organization were not complied with. 
The 2.07 1-2 stands as a record, however, on the book'^ 
of the National and American Trotting ^'Associations. 
Stamboul was the fastest trotter that traces directly 
in the paternal line to Henry Clay. The dam of 
Stamboul (2.07 1-2) was Fleetwing, by Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian, and she also produced the trotting 
mare Ruby (2.19 3-4). Stamboul's second dam was 
Patchen Maid, by George M. Patchen (2.231-2), mak- 
ing him inbred to the Clay strain. The third da'^^i 
of Stamboul was by old Abdallah, sire of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian. It will be seen from this that Stam- 
boul derived a much stronger inheritance from import- 
ed Messenger than from any other source. His ped- 
igree shows four crosses of old Abdallah, and three of 
them were through Abdallah's most famous son, Rys- 
dyk's Hambletonian. He had a stronger and closer 
inheritance from Rysdyk's Hambletonian than from 
Henry Clay, yet as he is a direct descendant in the pa- 
ternal line of Henry Clay, he is very properly credited 
to the Clay family, and is its "bright, particular star." 



131 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Stamboul (2.07 1-2) was not only the fastest of the 
Clay family, but was also its handsomest represen- 
tative. He was a beautifully proportioned, smoothly 
turned, well finished horse, a seal brown in color, and 
stood 15.3 hands high. He was foaled in California 
in 1882, and died the property of E. H. Harriman, at 
Goshen, N. Y., August 17, 1901. He is the sire of 
forty-five that have made records in standard time, all 
trotters. He is credited with sixteen sons that have 
sired thirty-two trotters and five pacers, which have 
made records in standard time; also with nine daugh- 
ters that have produced ten trotters which have made 
standard records. 

Sayre's Harry Clay (2.29). Although Clay Pilot, 
with the aid of Belle of Wabash (2.40) and Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian, has to his credit the fastest trotter that 
traces in the direct paternal line to Henry Clay, there 
was another son of Neave's Cassius M. Clay that was 
a faster trotter than Clay Pilot, and also gained dis- 
tinction as a perpetuator of speed. This was Sayre's 
Harry Clay (2.29), whose dam. Fan, was by imported 
Bellfounder. Fan was a full sister of the stallion 
Crabtree Bellfounder. Harry Clay was foaled in New 
Jersey in 1853, and died at Middletown, Orange coun- 
ty, N. Y., in 1887. He was a large black horse with 
four white feet and made a record of 2.29 at Chicago, 
111., July 9, 1864. He was raced some for five seasons 
and according to Chester's Complete Trotting and 
Pacing Records won twelve races in all. Four of his 
get made trotting records from 2.19 to 2.29 3-4. He is 
credited with fifteen sons that have sired standard 
performers, the most successful of which was King 

132 



THE CLAY FAMILY. 

Clay, sire of eleven trotters with records of 2.30 or bet- 
ter, one of which is Clay King (2.27 3-4), sire of ten 
standard performers, nine of which are trotters, in- 
cluding The King (2.101-2). 

Sayre's Harry Clay (2.29) gained his greatest dis- 
tinction as a brood mare sire. He is credited with 
twenty-six daughters that have produced forty-four 
trotters and two pacers which have made records in 
standard time. His most noted daughter as a pro- 
ducer was the renowned Green Mountain Maid, the 
dam of nine trotters, with records of 2.30 or better. 
Four of the sons of Green Mountain Maid are sires 
of standard speed, and one of them was the famous 
Electioneer, the sire of one hundred and sixty-five 
trotters that are credited by the National and Ameri- 
can Trotting Associations with records of 2.30 or bet- 
ter. Some of the fastest trotters produced by daugh- 
ters of Sayre's Harry Clay are Masetto (2.081-4), 
Harrietta (2.09 3-4), St. Julien (2.111-4), and Bellini 
(2.131-4). 

Other Clay Stallions. Several other sons of Cas- 
sius M. Clay besides Neave's gained distinction as sires 
of standard speed and some of them were quite suc- 
cessful as perpetuators. Amos' Cassius M. Clay, Jr., 
by Cassius M. Clay, got the noted trotter, American 
Girl (2.161-2), a formidable rival of Lucy (2.181-4), 
Lady Thorn (2.18 1-4), and even of the renowned Gold 
smith Maid (2.14). She beat the latter fairly seven 
times during the seasons from 1868 to 1872. She won 
in all fifty-two races and is credited with one hundred 
and fifty winning heats in 2.30 or better. American 
Girl was the only 2.30 trotter that Amos' Cassius M. 



133 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Clay, Jr., ever got, and only one of his sons ever sired 
a standard performer. 

Strader's Cassius M. Clay, Jr. Strader's Cassius 
M. Clay, Jr., by Cassius M. Clay, was quite popular as 
a sire and was something of a trotter himself. He 
won a few races and made a record of 2.35 1-4. He 
also sired four trotters that made records in standard 
time. His trotting inheritance was far superior to 
that of George M. Patchen (2.23 1-2). His dam was by 
Old Abdallah, the sire of Rysdyk's Hambletonian. 
His second dam was by Lawrence's Eclipse, a son of 
the old four-mile running race winner, American 
Eclipse, and his third dam was the Charles Hadley 
mare by imported Messenger. Strader's Cassius M. 
Clay, Jr., was owned several of the last years of his 
life by Gen. W. T. Withers, and did service at the noted 
Fairlawn Farm, Lexington, Ky. He was foaled in 
1852 and died at Fairlawn in 1882. He received a 
better class of trotting bred mares and left a larger 
number of foals than any other son of Cassius M. Clay. 
The fastest of his get was Durango (2.23 3-4). The 
dam of Durango was Mattie West, dam of McMahon 
(2.21) by Almont; second dam Monogram by Mam- 
brino Chief. 

Durango. Durango is credited with eighteen that 
made standard records, all trotters; with seven sons 
that sired thirteen trotters and two pacers which have 
made standard records; also sixteen daughters that 
have produced twenty-two trotters and six pacers with 
standard records. The Rodes mare, dam of Lady 
Thorn (2.18 1-4) and Herr's Mambrino Patchen, was 



134 



THE CLAY FAMILY. 

mated with Strader's Cassius M. Clay, Jr., and the re- 
sult was Kentucky Clay, that got the great brood mare 
Flaxy, dam of Blondine (2.24 3-4), Autograph 
(2.161-2), etc. Autograph is the sire of fifteen trot- 
ters with standard records, one of which is Authoress 
(2.091-4). A daughter of Autograph produced the 
noted trotter. Major Delmar (1.59 3-4). The name of 
the Kodes Mare is found in the pedigrees of a greater 
number of 2.10 trotters and pacers than that of any of 
the other great brood mares ever produced. Fully one- 
third of all the 2.10 trotters are descendants of this 
wonderful daughter of the thoroughbred Gano. She 
was once mated with the thoroughbred, imported Con- 
sternation, and the produce. Consolation, was the 
fourth dam of the trotter William Penn (2.07 1-4), the 
fastest of the get of Santa Claus (2.17 1-2). 

American Clay. American Clay is another son of 
Strader's Cassius M. Clay, that has gained consider- 
able notoriety, especially for transmitting to his daugh- 
ters the ability to perpetuate speed. The dam of 
American Clay was by imported Tranby; second dam 
by Aratus, a running bred son of Director, by Sir 
Archy; third dam by Josephus, a running bred son 
of Rob Roy, by Sir Archy ; and fourth dam by Eaton's 
Columbus, another son of Sir Archy. American Clay 
got three trotters that made standard records and 
three of his sons have sired standard speed. One of 
these was Magic, that got the big game trotting mare 
Clemmie G. (2.151-2), owned at one time by Mr. 
George Fabyan of this city. 

135 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

The fame of American Clay is greatest as a brood 
mare sire. His daughters have proved very success- 
ful, both as producers of speed and of successful sires 
of speed. They are now credited with forty trotters 
and five pacers that have made standard records. The 
fastest of the produce of his daughters is David B. 
(2.091-4). Among the successful sires produced by 
daughters of American Clay are Sir Walter, Jr. 
(2.181-4), sire of Alcidalia (2.101-4), etc.; Ambassa- 
dor (2.211-4), sire of fifty trotters and nineteen 
pacers that have made records in standard time; and 
Nelson's Wilkes, sire of forty trotters and seven 
pacers that have made records from 2.07 1-4 to 2.30, 
one of which was St. Croix (2.14 3-4), sire of Anidrosis 
(2.051-4), the fastest performer ever bred in Maine. 
A daughter of American Clay produced the dam of 
Col. H. S. Russell's noted stallion Edgemark (4) 
(2.16), the first trotting stallion to take so fast a 
four-year-old record as 2.16. Edgemark is the sire of 
Miss Whitney (2.071-2). The dam of Victor Von 
Bismarck, Edgemark's sire, was by Sayre's Harry Clay 
(2.29). The latter was the most successful brood 
mare sire in the Clay family, but American Clay is a 
close second. 

Gen. Hatch. Gen. Hatch is another son of Stra- 
der's Cassius M. Clay that has gained some fame as a 
sire and perpetuator of speed. His dam was by im- 
ported Envoy and his second dam by imported 
Tranby. He was the sire of two trotters with 
records of 2.28. The dam of these two trotters was 
Dolly and her sire was Iowa, a running bred son of 
imported Glencoe. A daughter of Gen. Hatch that 



136 



THE CLAY FAMILY. 

was from this same Dolly, by Iowa, produced the dam 
of the noted world's champion trotter Alix (2.03 3-4). 
The dam of the fast game trotter Dr. Strong (2.07 1-2) 
was by Gould's Clay, a son of Neave's Cassius M. Clay, 
Jr. It has already been stated that the three most 
successful sons of George M. Patchen (2.23 1-2) as 
sires of standard speed were Seneca Patchen, George 
M. Patchen, Jr. (2.27), sometimes called California 
Patchen, and Godfrey Patchen. Neither of these three 
sons showed sufficient speed perpetuating ability to 
found a family of trotters. It may, however, have 
been lack of opportunity, rather than ability, that pre- 
vented them from doing so. George M. Patchen, Jr. 
(2.27), apparently possessed greater perpetuating 
ability than either of the other two named. He is^ 
credited with ten that made standard records, all trot- 
ters. He is also credited with eleven sons that have 
sired standard speed. The whole number of standard 
performers got by these eleven sons is twenty-five trot 
ters and three pacers. The best of these eleven sires 
are Alexander and Sam Purdy (2.20 1-2). 

George M. Patchen^ Jr. The dam of George M. 
Patchen, Jr. (2.27), was by Top Bellfounder, a son 
of imported Bellfounder. The dam of Alexander was 
by Brown's Bellfounder, another son of imported Bell- 
founder, making Alexander inbred to the Bellfounder 
strain. Alexander got six trotters that took standard 
records and three of his sons are found in the Great 
Table of sires. The best of these is Alexander But- 
ton (2.261-2), the sire of fifteen trotters and eight 
pacers with standard records. The dam of Alexander 
Button was by Napa Rattler. It looks now as though 



137 



THE AM ERIC AX TROTTER. 

that branch of the family would end with Alexander 
Button or his son, Gen. Logan. 

The George M. Patchen, Jr., cross is found in a num- 
ber of fast performers. He got the second dam of 
the world's champion double-gaited performer, Anor 
conda (2.013-4) pacing, 2.09 3-4 trotting. Tuna, that 
trotted to a record of 2.09 1-2 in a winning race at the 
recent Grand Circuit meeting at Readville, is by Jame-s 
Madison, whose sire was Anteeo (2.16 1-2) and whose 
dam, Lucy Patchen, was by George M. Patchen, Jr. 
(2.27). 

Sam Purdy. The best son of George M. Patchen, 
Jr., as a sire was Sam Purdy, race record 2.20 1-2, and 
he was also the best campaigner got by his sire. The 
dam of Sam Purdy was Whiskey Jane, by Roy's Me- 
doc, a son of the successful thoroughbred race horse 
and sire, Medoc, by American Eclipse. Sam Purdy 
was the sire of seven trotters and two pacers that 
have made records in standard time, the fastest of 
which is Miss Woodford (2.09 3-4). None of his sons 
appear in the Great Table of sires of standard per- 
formers, but his daughters have produced seven with 
standard records. 

Andy Johnson. Many other stallions of the Clay 
family, besides those named, have attained some de- 
gree of success as sires, but as we are dealing with the 
principal trotting families, rather than individuals, it 
is not necessary to describe them all. One of those 
not mentioned above was Andy Johnson, by Old Henry 
Clay. Andy Johnson got the great brood mare Hattie 
R., the dam of seven trotters that have made records 
of 2.30 or better, also the dam of one sire of standard 



138 



THE CLAY FAMILY. 

speed. Spink, a son of Andy Johnson, got the noted 
plow horse Captain Lewis (2.201-2). 

It is claimed that Old Henry Clay was a very fa- 
mous roadster in his day, and many of his descendants 
have been distinguished for superior road qualities. 
Many of the family have been noted for bold trotting 
action. This is especially true of the descendants of 
the noted brood mare sire, Sayre's Harry Clay (2.29). 
The Clay family has a longer line of developed trotting 
inheritance than any of the others, yet this family has 
been almost completely swallowed up and its best qual- 
ities absorbed by the Hambletonian family, and in the 
near future it will be known only in equine history. 
The best stallions in that family, as has already 
been shown, have inherited much more of the blood 
of imported Messenger than of imported Grand Ba- 
shaw, and those that in recent years have been most 
successful as sires, though tracing direct to Henry 
Clay in the paternal line, have been much more close- 
ly related to Rysdyk's Hambletonian than to Henry 
Clay. 



139 



Chapter VI. 
THE MORGAN FAMILY. 



Justin Morgan. — Sherman Morgan. — Vermont Black Hawk. — 
Ethan Allen (2.251-2). — Daniel Lambert. — General Knox. 

The Morgan Family. The trotting family that is 
generally regarded as fourth in importance and rank 
is that branch of the Morgan family that sprang 
from Vermont Black Hawk, sometimes called Hill's 
Black Hawk, and registered in the American Trot- 
ting Register as Black Hawk 5. He was a grandson 
of the famous horse, Justin Morgan. Less is generally 
known by the average horseman and by the majority of 
students of the breeding problem concerning the origin 
and ancestors of the horse Justin Morgan than of the 
founders of either of the other trotting families. 

Justin Morgan. Statements in regard to the origin 
and blood lines of Justin Morgan have been so numer- 
ous and conflicting as to confuse many who have not 
taken the time to investigate and compare them. To 
sift these statements and glean from them the real 
facts is no small task. To present all of them would 
require more space than can be spared. The first man 
to make a persistent effort to collect the facts in regard 



140 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

to this horse and present them to the public was 
D. C. Linsley, then a resident of Middlebury, Vt. The 
result of his efiforts was a book entitled "Morgan's 
Horses," published in 1856. Mr. Linsley was an hon- 
est, conscientious man and secured much valuable in- 
formation, part of which was original — and from par- 
ties whose statements were based on their own person- 
al knowledge or on information given them verbally 
by trustworthy men who had personal knowledge of 
the facts communicated — and the rest from articles 
gleaned from reliable publications. After weighing 
the statements carefully, Mr. Linsley reached the con- 
clusion that the horse Justin Morgan was bred in the 
vicinity of West Springfield, Mass., and was taken 
to Randolph, Vt., by a Mr. Justin Morgan who for- 
merly lived at West Springfield, and that the 
sire of this horse was True Briton, also known as 
Beautiful Bay. 

There are some, even at this late day, who are not 
acquainted with all the facts, that believe the horse 
Justin Morgan originated in Canada. They get this 
idea from a letter dated Sherbrook, P. Q. (then Lower 
Canada), August, 1841, and written by a Mr. Geo. 
Barnard, to the publishers of the Albany Cultivator, 
an excellent agricultural publication, then issued 
monthly at Albany, N. Y. A part of this letter is as 
follows : 

For the last dozen years, being aware, both by observation 
and experiment, of the surprising results of crossing the 
Canadian with other breeds of horses, and having become ac- 
quainted with the vast variety and different qualities of 
various races in the Canadian breed, I have believed that the 



141 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

original Morgan horse was of French Canadian origin. This 
opinion being confirmed by the accounts here given, I am 
anxious to ascertain whether any one can prove it erroneous, 
and, if not, to make it public, that it may be known that 
thousands of horses may be obtained in French Canada of 
the same blood and not inferior in qualities to the Morgan 
whose existence added several himdred thousand dollars to 
the wealth of Vermont. 

Mr. Barnard's letter was accompanied by an affi- 
davit of one John Stearns, to the effect that some thir- 
ty-seven years previously, when he was a boy about 
thirteen years old, or about 1804, he heard somebody 
say that the Morgan horse had just been brought 
from Montreal, Canada, by Mr. Justin Morgan, etc., 
etc. The town records show that Mr. Justin Morgan 
died in 1798, or six years previous to the time when 
John Stearns claimed to have seen the horse which 
he heard some one say Justin Morgan had just brought 
from Montreal. Mr. Barnard frankly admits that his 
object in claiming that the Morgan horse originated 
in Canada was to make a demand for Canadian horses. 
It is not probable that he had ever examined a gen- 
uine descendant of the original Morgan horse at the 
time he wrote the letter from which the above was 
quoted. In fact, it is very certain that he had not, 
for under date of October 25, 1841, he wrote to the 
Albany Cultivator in regard to the Morgan horse as 
follows : 

In my communication on this subject, published in the late 
October number, I have expressed too confident an opinion 
in saying I believed the original horse (Morgan) was of 
French Canadian origin. I have recently had some acquain- 
tance with a Morgan horse endowed with all the peculiarities 
of the breed; suflScient to make me forbear any decided 



142 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

opinion on the point in question, until very clear evidence is 
adduced. The affidavit which I furnished is only probable 
and not conclusive testimony that the original horse was of 
French Norman descent, and procured in Montreal. 

This second letter of Mr. Barnard was written short- 
ly after his first one, accompanied by the aflSdavit, was 
published. It is quite evident from this second letter 
that Mr. Barnard placed little confidence in the erro- 
neous aflSdavit of Stearns, and had learned from experi- 
ence that the characteristics of the genuine Morgan 
were very different from those of the Canadians, which 
bore some resemblance to the Morgan in size and con- 
formation, but were decidedly unlike them in tempera- 
ment, style, gait and road qualities, as all of us know 
who had experience with both the Morgans and Cana- 
dians to saddle and harness on New England roads 
fifty years ago. The letter of Mr. Barnard and aflB- 
davit which accompanied it brought a positive and 
emphatic denial of the statements which they con- 
tained, from several trustworthy parties who were 
knowing to the facts concerning the origin of the horse 
in question and his introduction into Vermont. One 
of those who flatly contradicted the statement was 
John Morgan, a son of the man who took the horse 
from the Connecticut River valley to Vermont. We 
have been led to mention Mr. Barnard's letter and the 
erroneous aflSdavit of John Stearns from the fact that 
only about fifteen years ago the late Leslie E. McLeod: 
published an article entitled "The Trotting Horse' 
Historically Considered," in which he made the follow- 
ing statement: 

143 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

The descendants of Justin Morgan had the showy trappy 
gait, conformation and other characteristics that find their 
counterpart in certain Canadian families, and after duly 
weighing all the facts presented as to his history, I think the 
most reasonable conclusion is that he was of Canadian 
descent. 

It i« evident that Mr. McLeod had never read, or if 
he had read he had forgotten, the statement made by 
Mr, Barnard in his second letter and also the state- 
ments of Mr. John Morgan, a son of Mr. Justin Mor- 
gan, the man who took the horse to Vermont, and 
for vrhom the animal was named. Some years after 
Mr. Linsley's work, now out of print, was published, 
several men who were admirers of the Morgans inves- 
tigated the origin and early history of the horse Justin 
Morgan, and the facts which they learned that threw 
light on the subject were published in various news- 
papers. Hon. Joseph Battell of Middlebury, Vt, has 
spent more time and money in such investigations 
than have all other men combined. Mr. Battell has 
published these facts in Vol. 1 of the Morgan Horse 
and Register. Many of the facts contained in Lins- 
ley's work are embodied in Mr. Battell's, but a vast 
number of facts pertaining to the subject, dug up by 
Mr. Battell and others from reliable sources, are add- 
ed. A careful examination and comparison of all the 
facts presented by Mr. Battell and others show most 
conclusively that the founder of the Morgan family of 
horses was bred by Justin Morgan before he moved 
from West Springfield, Mass., to Vermont in 1788, and 
that the colt was foaled somewhere in the Connecticut 



144 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

River valley as early as 1789. He was taken to Ver- 
mont as early as 1793, for Mr. Justin Morgan adver- 
tised him to stand for service in Vermont that season. 
The horse was advertised under the name of Figure, 
and was always called that by Mr. Morgan as long as 
he owned him. Later in life the horse was named for 
the man who brought him to Vermont, Justin Morgan. 

The sire of the horse Justin Morgan was known as 
True Briton, also as Beautiful Bay, and Traveler. He 
was from the best of racing stock, tracing directly in 
the paternal line through the noted Croft's Partner 
to Byerly Turk, and through his dam straight to Go- 
dolphin Arabian, from both of which he inherited 
two crosses. Through his dam, Betty Leeds, True 
Briton inherited a cross of the renowned Flying 
Childers, the fastest son of Darley Arabian. True Brit- 
on was by Lloyd's Traveler, he by Morton's imported 
Traveler, a son of Croft's Partner. The latter was 
by Jigg, a son of Byerly Turk. The dam of True 
Briton was Betty Leeds, by Babraham, son of Godol- 
phin Arabian; second dam by Bolton Starling; third 
dam by Godolphin Arabian and fourth dam by Flying 
Childers, the fastest horse in England in his day. 

The dam of Justin Morgan was by Diamond, he by 
Church's Wildair, a son of imported Wildair, the 
horse that the English breeders sent over here and 
bought to take back to England and keep for stock 
purposes. Imported Wildair was by Cade, one of the 
most successful sons of Godolphin Arabian as a sire 
and perpetuator of racing speed. The dam of imported 
Wildair was by Steady, a son of the famous Flying 
Childers, and his second dam was by Croft's Partner, 



145 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

the best son of Jigg, and the latter the most success- 
ful son of Byerly Turk as a sire. Here we find the 
same three horses again which did so much to improve 
the quality of the racing stock of England, viz., By- 
erly Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Arabian. 
The pedigree of imported Messenger contains the 
names of these three noted horses, and some of them 
more than once. There is good reason to believe 
that the second dam of Justin Morgan was by Sports- 
man, a son of Arabian Ranger, but no direct proof that 
such was the fact has ever been presented. The tabu- 
lated pedigree of Justin Morgan appears in Mr. Bat- 
tell's work, as stated above. It is apparent from this 
that the founder of the Morgan family was well bred. 
No horse that was not well bred could accomplish 
what he did from the class of mares with which he 
must have been mated at that early day in Vermont. 
No horse of his time stamped his offspring more strong- 
ly with his own characteristics or endowed his get with 
greater ability to perpetuate those valuable character- 
istics through succeeding generations than did Justin 
Morgan. Probably no horse of his size ever lived 
that could pull so heavy a load as he or do it more 
cheerfully. Though of diminutive size, he was a giant 
in strength and had the courage of a lion, yet he was 
as docile as a lamb. It was claimed that he could 
out-draw, out-walk, out-trot and out-run every horse 
that was ever matched against him, and his owner 
never declined a challenge, however large and fast 
the opponent, though his races were for short distances 
and straight away on the road. In D. C. Linsley's 
excellent work the horse is described as follows: 



146 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

The original, or Justin Morgan, was about fourteen hands 
high and weighed about nine hundred and fifty pounds. His 
color was dark bay, with black legs, mane and tail. He had 
no white hairs on him. His mane and tail were coarse and 
heavy, but not so massive as has been sometimes described; 
the hair of both was straight and not inclined to curl. His 
head was good, not extremely small, but lean and bony, the 
face straight, forehead broad, ears small and very fine, but set 
rather wide apart. His eyes were medium size, very dark 
and prominent, with a spirited but pleasant expression, and 
showed no white round the edge of the lid. His nostrils were 
very large, the muzzle small, and the lips close and firm. 
His back and legs were perhaps his most noticeable points. 
The former was very short, the shoulder blades and hip bones 
being very long and oblique, and the loins exceedingly broad 
and muscular. 

His body was rather long, round and deep, close ribbed 
up; chest 'deep and wide, with the breastbone projecting a 
good deal in front. His legs were short, close-jointed, thin, 
but very wide, hard and free from meat, with muscles that 
were remarkably large for a horse of his size, and this super- 
abundance of muscle exhibited itself at every step. His hair 
was short, and at almost all seasons soft and glossy. He had 
a little long hair about the fetlocks, and for two or three 
inches above the fetlock on the back side of the legs; the 
rest of the limbs were entirely free from it. His feet were 
small, but well shaped, and he was in every respect perfectly 
sound and free from any sort of blemish. He was a very fast 
walker. In troffing his gait was low and smooth, and his 
step short and nervous ; he was not what in these days would 
be called fast, and we think it doubtful whether he could 
trot a mile much if any within four minutes, though it is 
claimed by many that he could trot it in three. 

Although he raised his feet but little, he never stumbled. 
His proud, bold and fearless style of movement, and his vig- 
orous, untiring action, have, perhaps, never been surpassed. 
When a rider was on Him, he was obedient to the slightest 
motion of the rein, would walk backwards rapidly under a 

147 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

gentle pressure of the bit, and moved sideways almost as 
willingly as he moved forward; in short, was perfectly trained 
to all the paces and evolutions of a parade horse; and when 
ridden at military reviews (as was frequently the case), his 
bold, imposing style, and spirited, nervous action attracted 
universal attention and admiration. He was perfectly gentle 
and kind to handle, and loved to be groomed and caressed, 
but he disliked to have children about him, and had an invet- 
erate hatred for dogs, if loose always chasing them out of 
sight the instant he saw them. 

When taken out with halter or bridle he was in constant 
motion, and very playful. He was a fleet runner at short dis- 
tances. Running horses short distances for small stakes was 
very common in Vermont fifty years ago. Eighty rods was 
very generally the length of the course, which usually com- 
menced at a tavern or grocery, and extended the distance 
agreed upon, up or down the public road. In these races the 
horses were started from a "scratch," that is, a mark was 
drawn across the road in the dirt, and the horses, ranged in 
a row upon it, went off at ttie "drop of a hat" or some other 
signal. 

Among the many laces of this description that he ran 
were two in 1796, at Brookfield, Vt., one with a horse called 
Sweepstakes from Long Island and the other with a horse 
called Silver Tail from St. Lawrence county, New York. 
Both of these he beat with ease. Mr. Morgan (who then 
owned him) offered to give the owner of Silver Tail two more 
chances to win the stake, which was fifty dollars, by walking 
or trotting the horses for it, which was declined. There are 
many accounts of other races which he ran and won, but 
these accounts not fully agreeing as to the details, we have 
not mentioned them. 

In the harness Justin Morgan was quiet but full of spirit, 
an eager and nimble traveller, but patient in bad spots; and 
although for a long time steadily engaged in the heavy work 
of a new farm, his owner at that time informs us that he 
never knew him to refuse to draw as often as he was required 
to, but he pithily adds, "I didn't very often have to ask him 



148 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

but once, for whatever he was hitched to generally had to 
come the first time trying." This uniform kindness at a pull 
was one of the striking characteristics of the horse, and the 
same trait may be observed in the greater part of his 
descendants. 

Following is an extract from a letter written by Solomon 
Steele to Mr. Linsley, and published by the latter in Morgan 
Horses: "Mr. Morgan leased this horse to Robert Evans, for 
one year, ior the sum of fifteen dollars. Immediately after 
this Evans undertook the job of clearing fifteen acres of 
heavy-timbered land for a Mr. Fisk, and before the first of 
Jime following had completed the job, with no other team 
but this colt, though not regarded as a 'salable horse.' 

"While Evans was engaged in piling this timber, the re- 
markable powers of this horse, it would seem, were in a 
measure developed, as he was then found able to out-draw, 
out-walk, out-trot, or out-run every horse that was matched 
against him. An instance was related to me by Mr. Nathan 
Nye, who was an eye-witness, and whose testimony was never 
questioned. I noted it at the time, and will relate it In his 
own words: 

" 'At the time Evans had this horse, a small tavern, a 
grist mill and a saw mill were in operation on the branch 
of White River, in Randolph, and at this place the strength 
of men and horses in that settlement was generally tested. 
On one occasion' (says Nye) 'I went to these mills, where 
I spent most of the day, and during the time many trials were 
had, for a small wager, to draw a certain pine log, which lay 
some ten rods from the saw mill. 

" 'Some horses were hitched to it that would weigh 1,200 
pounds, but not one of them could move it its length. About 
dusk Evans came down from his logging field, which was near 
by, and I told him the particulars of the drawing match. 
Evans requested me to show him the log, which I did; he 
then ran Taack to the tavern and challenged the company to 
bet a gallon of rum that he could not draw the log fairly 
on to the logway, at three pulls with his colt. The challenge 



149 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

was promptly accepted, and each having "taken a glass," the 
whole company went down to the spot. 

"'Arrived on the ground, Evans says: "I am ashamed to 
hitch my horse to a little log like that, but if three of you 
will get on and ride, if 1 don't draw it I will forfeit the 
rum." Accordingly, three of those least able to stand were 
placed upon the log. I was present with a lantern, and 
cautioned those on the log to look out for their legs, as I 
had seen the horse draw before, and knew something had got 
to come. At the word of command the horse started log and 
men, and went more than half of the distance before stopping. 
At the next pull he landed his load at the spot agreed upon, 
to the astonishment of all present. 

" 'Not many days after this, the beaten party proposed to 
Evans to run a certain horse against his, eighty rods, for 
another gallon. Evans accepted, went from his work, and 
matched his horse against four different horses the same 
evening, and beat them all with ease.' " 

This wonderful little horse died at Chelsea, Vt., in 
the winter of 1821. He was then thirty-two years old. 
Mr. Linsley's account of the circumstance is as follows : 

He was not stabled, but was running loose in an open yard 
with other horses, and receiving a kick from one of them in 
the flank, exposed without shelter to the inclemency of a 
northern winter, inflammation set in and he died. Before 
receiving the injury which caused his death, he was perfectly 
sound and entirely free from any description of blemish. 
His limbs were perfectly smooth, clean, free from any 
swelling, and perfectly limber and supple. Age had not 
quenched his spirit nor dampened the ardor of his temper; 
years of severest labor had not sapped his vigor nor broken 
his constitution ; his eye was still bright and his step flrm and 
elastic. 

The fact that Justin Morgan was so well preserved 
at thirty-two years of age is of itself alone sufficient 
proof that his blood inheritance was of the choicest, 



150 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

that his bone and muscle were of the finest quality and 
that he possessed a vast amount of nerve force. Had 
he not possessed such an inheritance it would have 
been impossible for him to transmit and perpetuate his 
valuable qualities with such uniformity when mated 
with the class of mares that he received there. "A 
tree is known by its fruit," and the inheritance of a 
stallion is surely known by the quality of his progeny. 
Trotting tracks were unknown in the days of Justin 
Morgan and ,his sons, but for road use, either under 
the saddle or in harness, and also for the stage coach 
and general purpose horses, the early Morgans were 
unsurpassed by those of any other family. His ster- 
ling merit was not appreciated until he was well ad- 
vanced in years, and but comparatively few of his 
sons were kept for stock purposes. The three which 
proved most successful and are best known today as 
progenitors of speed were Bulrush, Woodbury and 
Sherman Morgan. The Morrill family, of which the 
Fearnaughts and Winthrop Morrills are branches, 
were descendants of Bulrush; the Golddusts, the 
Magna Chartas, and the dam of the successful sire 
Kentucky Prince, are members of the Woodbury 
branch; while from Sherman Morgan came the Ver- 
mont Black Hawk family, which includes those of 
Daniel Lambert, General Knox and others. 

Lady Sutton. One of the first of the Morgans to 
take a record of 2.30 was the brown mare Lady Sutton. 
She made a record of 2.30 in a memorable seven-heat 
contest with Lady Suffolk and Pelham at Centreville, 
L. I., August 3, 1849. Lady Suffolk won the first heat 
in 2.29 1-2, which equalled her best record to harness. 



151 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

She also got the second heat in 2.31. Lady Suttou won 
the third heat in 2.30 and Pelham was distanced, 
which left the contest to these two best representa- 
tives of the Messenger and Morgan families. The 
fourth heat was won by Lady Sutton in 2.31 1-2. The 
fifth was a dead heat in 2.32, and the sixth was also a 
dead heat, time, 2.31; but the stout thoroughbred 
backing that Lady Suffolk got, aside from Mes- 
senger, from the son of imported Wildair that 
sired her second dam, and through Shark that got the 
dam of Plato, sire of the dam of Engineer 2d, enabled 
Lady Suffolk to outlast the daughter of Morgan Eagle, 
and she won the seventh heat in 2.38. It was the most 
stubbornly contested race ever seen between two trot- 
ters. Morgan Eagle, the sire of Lady Sutton, was 
by Woodbury, son of Justin Morgan. These two 
mares met in several contests, and though Lady Suf- 
folk was the victor in the majority of them. Lady 
Sutton beat her twice. 

Mac (2.27). The brown gelding Mac was another 
of the early Morgan trotters of note. He beat some 
of the best trotters of his day and one of them was 
Lady Suffolk, that he defeated four times. Mac took 
a record of 2.27 to saddle in the third heat of a race 
that he beat Lady Suffolk, in the vicinity of Boston, 
June 14, 1849, and June 28, 1853, he made a record of 
2.28 to harness on Union Course, N. Y. The sire of 
Mac was Morgan Caeser, also called Post Boy, and he, 
too, was a son of Woodbury Morgan. 

Sherman Morgan. The branch of the Morgan 
family which has been most prolific in trotting speed 
is the line which came through Sherman Morgan. 



152 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

The latter was bred by Mr. James Sherman, Lyndon, 
Vt., and according to D. C. Linsley was foaled in 
1808 or 1809. His sire was the original Justin Morgan. 
His dam was described by Mr. George Sherman, a 
son of John Sherman, as a chestnut in color, of 
good size, high-spirited and an elegant animal. He 
called her of Spanish breed. Others claimed that 
she was an imported English mare. From her 
elegant and blood-like appearance and high spirits 
it is evident that she was well bred. She was taken 
to Vermont from Providence or Cranston, R. I. It 
is stated upon good authority that she was bought 
by Mr. John Sherman of Providence, R. I., a brother 
of James Sherman, for her beauty and speed. Like 
Clara, the dam of Dexter (2.171-4), she met with 
an injury and finally became the property of James 
Sherman of Lyndon, Vt., who mated her with Justin 
Morgan, and the result was Sherman Morgan. It is 
probable that she was the best bred as well as the 
most elegant and spirited mare that was ever mated 
with Justin Morgan, though her breeding is unknown. 
Linsley says that "whoever may have bred this mare, 
and whether of Spanish or English descent, it is 
certain that she was a fine animal. She was a chestnut 
with three white feet and a white stripe in the face. 
Her head was good, ears small, neck light and rather 
long; not very compactly formed, and never carried 
much flesh. She carried her head high, was a spirited 
traveler, and an excellent saddle beast. She was very 
pleasant tempered, and worked kindly in all places." 
From the same author we quote the following 
description of this remarkable son of Justin Morgan: 



153 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Sherman (Morgan) was a bright chestnut about thirteen 
and three-quarters hands high and weighed nine hundred and 
twenty-five pounds. His off hind leg was white from the 
foot half way to the hocli; and he had a small white stripe in 
the face; his head was lean and wedge-shaped, ears small 
and fine, eyes inclined to be small, but full, prominent and 
lively; his legs had some long hairs upon the back side, but 
were broad, flat and sinewy. He had a capital chest, with 
the breast bone very prominent; the shoulders were large and 
well placed, the neck excellent, the mane and tail full, but not 
remarkably heavy. His hips were long and deep, the loins 
broad and muscular, but he was a little hollow or sway- 
backed; still no suspicion of a weak back could attach to him 
or he would have broken down under the rough treatment he 
received in early life. When four years old, Mr. Sherman 
put him to hard work, and though for about two months in 
the spring of each year he worked but little, yet the remainder 
of the year his work was very severe. Mr. Sherman was a 
hard-working man and the animals under his charge had few 
opportunities to rest. Most of the year the horse was kept 
constantly at work upon the farm, much of which he helped 
to "clear up." In the winter Mr. Sherman usually ran a team 
steadily from Lyndon, VI., lo Portland, Me. For several years 
this team consisted of this horse and a half brother (?) sired 
by Justin Morgan, a year older and a little larger than 
Sherman. 

Mr. Sherman was not a man to be outdone at drawing or 
driving and he was always ready to match his team against 
any he met to draw or run for a trifling wager. His little 
team became famous at every inn from Lyndon to Portland, 
and after a time the teamsters that knew the horses were 
afraid to match animals of any size against them. In the 
spring, when the sleighing became poor, the men who had 
been companions through the winter in the severe labor of 
teaming across the country would often congregate at the 
village taverns to spin yarns of their simple but rough ad- 
ventures, engage in wrestling, running, foot and horse races, 
drawing matches, and many games invented to test the 



154 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

strength of men or horses. In addition to these attractions 
the prospects of a social glass of "Old Santa Cruz" may have 
had some influence in drawing together the people collected 
on these occasions, for it was at that time considered a 
pleasant beverage, and it was not generally known to be a 
subtle poison. Certain it is that these games were well at- 
tended and were conducted with much spirit. Drawing 
matches were at that time very common. 

At Lyndon the usual way of drawing was to attach a horse 
to a sled, fill it with men and draw the load up a steep hill 
just north of the tavern. "When each his utmost strength 
had shown," Sherman would add a small boy to his largest 
load and commence the ascent, well satisfied if he could gain 
two or three feet at a pull, for nothing discouraged his horse, 
and it was difficult to load him so that he could not move a 
little. These facts are perfectly well known to many persons 
now (1856) living in Lyndon, and we mention them, not from 
any intrinsic interest they may possess, but having said that 
Sherman was slightly hollow-backed, we thought it necessary 
to show that if so his back was by no means weak. 

Mr. Sherman sold this horse to Stephen C. Gibbs of Little- 
ton, N. H., in 181?. Mr. Gibbs kept the horse one year and 
sold him to John Buckminster of Danville, Vt., but Mr. Gibbs 
had charge of him two years longer. After this he was kept 
at Danville and vicinity until 1829, when he was purchased 
of Mr. Buckminster by Mr. John Bellows of Lancaster, N. H. 
The summer of 1829 he was kept at Littleton, N. H., in charge 
of Stephen C. Gibbs; in 1830 he was kept at Dover and 
vicinity; in 1831 he was at Colonel Jacques' Ten Hills Farm, 
Charlesfown, Mass. In 1832 he was at Dover and Durham, N. 
H.; in 1833 at Lancaster, N. H., and in 1834 at Dover and 
vicinity. He died in Mr. Bellows' stable in Lancaster the 
9th of January, 1835. The cause of his death is unknown. 
He was left at ten o'clock in the morning apparently well, 
and at one o'clock in the afternoon was found dead. With 
the exception of some slight indications of age, he was ap- 
parently as free from every species of blemish or Infirmity 
the morning of the day he died as when he was foaled. 



155 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

The thorough investigations, a few years ago, of 
Hon. Joseph Battell, brought to light some facts in 
title shape of old newspaper advertisements which tend 
to show that Mr. Linsley may have made slight 
mistakes in some of the above dates, but they are 
undoubtedly nearly correct on the whole. Mr. John 
Bellows, who owned Sherman Morgan the last six 
years of the horse's life, was a very capable and 
successful business man. He began buying cattle on his 
own account, collecting them in droves and driving them 
to market, when he was but seventeen years old. He 
finally owned a large amount of real estate and timber 
lands in the vicinity of the White Mountains. He 
lived at the Hotel Warren in this city during the last 
few years of his life and died there several years ago. 
The writer had several interesting interviews with 
Mr. Bellows toward the close of his life. He remem 
bered Sherman Morgan well and never tired of talking 
when that horse was the subject of conversation. Mr. 
Bellows owned many horses during his life, but appar- 
ently valued Sherman Morgan much more highly than 
all the others. He was considered the best sire in New 
England in his day and during the last few years of 
his life yielded his owner a handsome yearly income. 
The horse was a prompt, cheerful roadster, but it 
has never been claimed that he was a fast trotter. 
His offspring were the best roadsters that could be 
found in their time, and some of them could show 
considerable speed at the trot for that early day. 
Many of his sons were kept for service and left 
excellent stock. The fastest trotter and most success- 
ful perpetuator of speed among them all was Vermont 

156 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

Black Hawk, founder of the Black Hawk trotting 
family. 

Vermont Black BLa.wk. Vermont Black Hawk, 
also known as Hill's Black Hawk and registered in 
the American Trotting Register as Black Hawk (5), 
was bred by Benjamin Kelly, then proprietor of a hotel 
in Durham, N. H. He was foaled about the middle 
of April, 1833, the property of Ezekiel Twombly, then 
also a resident of Durham. His dam was a large 
black mare which Mr. Kelly got from a traveling man 
or pedlar, in exchange for another horse. This pedlar 
said that the mare was half bred, that is, she was 
got by a thorougbred horse, and that she was raised 
in the Province of New Brunswick, and brought from 
there by him. She was a well proportioned, strongly 
made animal, not far from sixteen hands high and 
weighed 1,100 pounds. She was a solid black in color 
with the exception of a white stripe in the face. She 
was a pure gaited trotter, never paced or mixed or 
•showed any inclination to do so. 

Mr. A. R. Mathes, at one time an oil merchant of 
Boston and an expert judge of horses, became the 
owner of Black Hawk when the horse was five years 
old. He knew the dam of Black Hawk well, and in 
a personal letter to the writer, some twenty years 
ago, had this to say of her: "I remember the dam 
of Black Hawk perfectly well. She was a good 
looking, large-sized black mare, said to have come from 
the Provinces. She was said to have been from 
English stock and from experience since I should think 
she was. Nothing was ever said or thought much' 
in those days about pedigree or speed. I remember 



157 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

her as being a good-looking, easy-moving mare with 
long neck, large ears, full, large eyes, wide between 
the eyes, strong back, good legs and feet." 

Mr, Shadrack Seavey, a man of excellent reputation, 
who had charge of this mare for eight years, stated 
to the writer that "she was a very pleasant, free driver, 
did not pull on the bit in the least, was a square 
trotter, never showing any inclination to pace, and 
was very fast for those days. In harness she carried 
her head pretty well up, needed but little checking. 
Although a free driver, she had a pleasant disposition. 
She had a long, slim neck, medium mane and tail, 
round barrel of good length, handsome, smoothly 
turned hips, quite a straight rump, legs clean, smooth 
and free from shaggy hairs. Her weight was 1,100 
pounds." She was driven for several years by Mr. 
Seavey's grandmother, an old lady who was quite 
feeble. 

When Black Hawk was foaled he was small, very 
poor, weak and homely. He looked so inferior and 
unpromising that Mr. Twombly thought seriously of 
killing him, and asked the advice of a neighbor In 
regard to the matter. After looking the colt over 
the neighbor said, "No, don't kill him; he may be 
worth a hundred dollars some day." Mr. Twombly 
decided to let the colt live, but said he hated to have 
such a looking thing following so good a mare. He 
told his grandson, Shadrack Seavey, then a youth of 
seventeen years, who lived with his grandparents, that 
he might have the colt for his own. Shadrack 
Seavey's mother was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 



158 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

Ezekiel Twombly. Shadrack lived with his grand- 
parents until after he was "of age," and his grandfather 
died. The colt improved in looks as he grew older. 
But few farmers in that section thought they could 
afford to feed grain to their colts in those days, and 
Black Hawk was never treated to such a luxury as a 
feed of oats until after he left the farm where he was 
raised. Shadrack Seavey had sole charge of the colt, 
and at the usual age broke him both to harness and 
saddle. When the colt was three years old a veterinary 
Burgeon was called to the farm to castrate him, but he 
was a good judge of horse stock, and advised young 
Seavey to keep the colt entire. The Morgans were 
then very popular in New England, and the get of 
Sherman Morgan, the most popular of them all. The 
colt was named Morgan by Mr. Seavey and was always 
so called as long as he kept him. He proved very 
intelligent and docile, and submitted to be used to 
harness and saddle without resistance. 

About the time that Shadrack Seavey became 
twenty-one years of age his grandfather, Ezekiel 
Twombly, died. Although the colt had been given 
to Shadrack Seavey, the administrator of the estate 
claimed Morgan, and he was appraised as part of the 
estate at |60. Mr. Seavey did not like to part with 
the colt, and, being a bright young man who could 
stand up for his rights, he put in a claim against 
the estate of |60 for services rendered his grandfather. 
The claim was allowed and he was given the colt in 
payment. Morgan, as the colt was then called, was 
a born trotter. Mr. Seavey was not a horseman, yet 
with his handling Morgan improved in speed, so that 



159 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

he soon out-trotted all the best horses in that vicinity. 
His gait was pure and his inclination to stick to the 
trot was so strong that he never made a break during 
all the time that Mr. Seavey drove him. His beautiful 
trotting action and natural speed attracted the atten- 
tion of horsemen and elicited favorable comment from 
them all. In the winter of 1837-8, when he was coming 
five years old, A. R. Mathes, who had heard of the 
colt, went to see him. He found the colt running in 
the farm yard with a lot of cows. Mr. Mathes informed 
the writer that the colt was then rather thin in flesh 
and would weigh only about eight hundred and 
fifty pounds, and as he had not been blanketed during 
the cold weather his coat was quite long. He appeared 
at first glance like an ordinary farm colt. Mr. Mathes 
asked Mr. Seavey to harness the colt to sleigh and 
drive him. He did so, and Mr. Mathes was so well 
pleased with his gait and speed that after considerable 
parley he induced Mr. Seavey to let him have the colt 
for another horse and $50 in cash. As already stated, 
the colt was then coming five years old, or, as ages of 
horses are reckoned, was then five years old. Up to 
that time no one except Mr. Seavey had ever driven 
or ridden Morgan, as he was then called, or Black 
Hawk, as he is now known. Mr. Mathes was a natural 
horseman and quite an expert reinsman. In his hands 
the young horse soon showed great improvement both 
in speed and general appearance. He kept the horse 
a few months and then sold him to Messrs. William 
Brown and Benjamin Thurston of Haverhill, Mass., 
for $200. Mr. Thurston finally bought Mr. Brown's 
interest in the horse, named him Black Hawk, used 



160 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

him as a family horse, handled him for speed, and 
raced him with considerable success. 

Many of the races of that early day were not 
published, and undoubtedly several in which Black 
Hawk was engaged were among them. Chester's 
Complete Trotting and Pacing Records gives but two 
of his races. The first was at Boston in 1842, when 
he won a wager of |1,000 by trotting five miles in 
16 minutes. The other was October 3, 1843, in which 
he met and defeated Jim and Dying Sargent in a race 
of two mile heats, time 5.43, 5.48, 5.47. The second 
heat was won by Dying Sargent. It has been stated 
that Mr. Thurston taught Black Hawk to break and 
catch, a style of training practiced by many drivers 
at that early day. In the winter or spring of 1844 
Mr. Thurston sold Black Hawk for $800 to David Hill 
of Bridport, Vt., and his son, Noble Hill, then of 
Boston. The horse was taken to Bridport. David 
Hill finally became sole owner and kept him until 
Black Hawk's death, which occurred December 1, 1856. 
During the last twelve years of his life Black Hawk 
was the most popular and most extensively patronized 
trotting stallion then in America. He met with 
strenuous opposition, however, from friends of the 
Messengers, who derided the "little Morgans," and 
also from friends of the Morgan family, who were 
owners of rival Morgan stallions which they stood 
for service, but Black Hawk's merits had become so 
well known that the efforts of his enemies failed to 
detract from his popularity. 

The high esteem in which Black Hawk was held by 
his former owner, Benjamin Thurston, is shown in 



101 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

the following extract from a letter written October 7th, 
1847, by Mr. Thurston to David Hill, who then owned 
the horse: "I bought Black Hawk when he was five 
years old; for six years used him as my family horse, 
and think him without exception the finest horse I 
ever knew. I have owned many horses during the last 
twenty-five years, varying from ten to thirty-five at a 
time, and have also been in the habit of purchasing 
the best I could find for sale; but if the choicest 
qualities of all the best horses I ever owned were 
combined in one animal, I do not think they would 
produce one that would surpass Black Hawk. In 
the first place he is the best roadster I ever drew 
rein over. I have frequently driven him fifty miles 
in half a day, and once drove him sixty-three miles 
in seven hours and fifteen minutes. He did it with 
perfect ease, and indeed I never saw him appear 
fatigued. At the time I owned him, I believe he 
could have trotted one hundred miles in ten hours, 
or sixteen miles in one hour, or one mile in two 
minutes and forty seconds. In the second place, he 
has the best disposition of any horse I ever knew, 
and is perfectly safe for any lady to ride or drive. 
Thirdly, he will draw as kindly as any team horse. 
His stock is unequalled." 

Early in the season of 1847, some of the friends 
of Mr. Hill and his horse, among them Solomon Jewett, 
then quite an extensive breeder of fine horses, 
persuaded Mr. Hill to publicly challenge any one to 
match any stallion in America against Black Hawk on 
the following points : "First, perfection of symmetry ; 
second, ease and elegance of action; third, best and 

162 



TEE MORGAN FAMILY. 

most perfectly broken to harness; fourth, fastest 
trotting to single harness" ; the decision to be rendered 
by expert disinterested judges at the New York State 
Fair that fall. The challenge failed to bring about 
a match on those terms, but did result in a match 
to harness, between the Morse Horse and Black Hawk, 
which was contested at the time and place mentioned 
in Mr. Hill's challenge. The Morse Horse had some- 
thing of a local reputation as a trotter, and as his 
dam was quite strongly inbred to the Messenger strain 
the friends of Messenger stock were greatly interested 
in the match before the race came ofif, and sadly disap- 
pointed by the result. Black Hawk had been so busy 
in the stud that season as to prevent putting him in 
racing condition. He received that season a total of 
one hundred and eighty-six patrons. He was on the 
ground at the appointed time, however, and parties 
who were present say that he beat the Morse Horse 
easily. This race does not appear in Chester's Com- 
plete Trotting and Pacing Records, and there is 
probably no account of it in existence that was 
published at the time. Some twenty odd years ago 
Mr. Solomon Jewett, who was present and remem- 
bered the contest, gave the time made. It was not 
fast, but was fast enough to win. It was claimed 
that the New York papers were then all so friendly 
to the Messengers and hostile to the Morgans, that 
they did not care to make known the victory of Black 
Hawk, but whether the claim had any foundation in 
fact we do not know. 

Black Hawk got but few foals before he was taken 
to Vermont. During the thirteen seasons that he did 



163 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

service while owned by Mr. Hill, it is stated upon 
good authority that his patrons numbered 1772. In 
1850, the number of mares mated with him was twO 
hundred. For eight seasons the number of his patrons 
ranged from one hundred and sixteen to two hundred, 
and the average for those eight seasons was one 
hundred and sixty-seven. Some time after Black 
Hawk was taken to Vermont, and had become the most 
popular trotting stallion in America, some one 
started a story to the effect that he was not a son of 
Sherman Morgan, but was got by a horse called Paddy, 
that was owned by Mr. Bellows, and used as a "teaser" 
for Sherman Morgan. It wa.5 claimed that Paddy 
was black, that Black Hawk was black, and that 
Sherman Morgan never got a black colt or filly. The 
story was circulated industriously and was accepted 
as fact by many. When Mr. Charles Flint was Secre- 
tary of the Board of Agriculture of Massachusetts, 
somebody furnished him with the story, so embellished 
that he accepted it as fact, and published it in one 
of his annual reports. This version of the story was 
that, one Sunday night, some boys broke into the 
stable where Sherman Morgan, Paddy and the dam of 
Black Hawk were kept, and by lantern light, mated 
the dam of Black Hawk with Paddy. All that was 
necessary to stamp that story as false was the stud bill 
for Sherman Morgan for the season of 1832. One 
of those bills, framed, hangs in the Editorial room of 
the American Horse Breeder. It shows that Sherman 
Morgan was at Benjamin Kelley's, Durham, N. H., one 
night only in each week and that night was Wednesday. 
This bill further shows that instead of Paddy, it was 



164 



THE MORGAN FAMILY, 

a son of Sherman Morgan that was Sherman Morgan's 
stable companion or teaser that year. Mr. Bellows 
at one time owned a stallion called Paddy, but he sold 
that horse in 1830 to a man in New Hampshire, who 
sent Paddy to Rhode Island. The stud book of Paddy, 
which is now the property of the American Horse 
Breeder, shows that the date when the last mare was 
mated with him while he was the property of Mr. 
Bellows was July 31, 1830. 

So much for the Paddy story, which we have good 
reason to believe was started by parties who at the 
time were interested in the stallion Gifford Morgan, 
an excellent representative of the Morgan family, then 
owned and kept in New Hampshire. The only ground 
for the story was that Black Hawk was black, but so 
was his dam. Mr. J. H. Wallace states in his latest 
work, ''The Horse of America," that Paddy was "black 
as a crow." Mr. John Bellows, who owned Paddy, 
assured the writer that the horse was not black, but 
was brown in color. It is immaterial, however, what 
Paddy's color was, as he was not within one hundred 
miles of the dam of Black Hawk the season that the 
latter was begotten. The Stud Book of Sherman 
Morgan for 1832, which is now the property of the 
American Horse Breeder, shows that a mare owned 
by Benjamin Kelley was mated with Sherman Morgan 
May 14, 1832, for which Mr. Kelley was charged |14. 
This is marked paid, and underneath is a note in Mr. 
Bellows' handwriting stating that "from this service 
came Black Hawk." 

In giving the history of Black Hawk in his latest 
work, Mr. Wallace has made several errors, some 



165 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

trivial, one at least very important. He accepts 
Sherman Morgan as the sire of Black Hawk, and 
states as evidence that when Ezekiel Twombly traded 
for the dam of Black Hawk with Benjamin Kelley, he 
agreed to pay the service fee of the stallion in case the 
mare proved with foal, but that when he came to settle 
he refused to pay more than $7, which was the price 
of Paddy's fee; that Mr. Bellows sued for $14, the 
fee of Sherman Morgan, and recovered that sum. 
This is a matter of small consequence, but it shows 
how careless some able and noted writers are in 
recording matters of history. The foundation for that 
story is this: Wingate Twombly, a son of Ezekiel, 
who lived with his father, took a mare owned by 
his father to the stallion Flint Morgan, owned by Mr. 
Bellows, and, without authority of his father, had her 
mated with that horse, Wingate was then of age. His 
father was displeased because he did this, as it was 
contrary to his wishes, and he refused to pay the 
service fee. Mr. Bellows sued for it and the Court 
decreed that Ezekiel Twombly, owner of the mare, 
must pay the fee, which he did. We had these facts 
from the lips of both Wingate Twombly and John 
Bellows. There was never any question about the bill 
for the service of Sherman Morgan and the dam of 
Black Hawk. No trace of the Paddy story can be 
found until some time after Black Hawk became the 
property of David Hill. 

Mr. Wallace says that when Black Hawk was about 
two years old he was sold at auction to Albert Mathes 
of Durham, N. H., for $70. This, too, is a harmless 
error. The horse was never sold at auction and did 



166 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

not become the property of Mr. Mathes until five years 
old, when Mr. Mathes gave $50 in cash and another 
horse or mare valued at $50 for him. In speaking 
of the dam of Vermont Black Hawk Mr. Wallace says, 
"The reasonable conclusion seems to be that she was 
double-gaited and when speeded she would go from 
the trot to the pace, or the pace to the trot, as the 
case might be." Had Mr. Wallace investigated this 
matter personally he would never have allowed such a 
glaring misstatement to have been published in his 
work. The man who was mainly responsible for the 
error is Allen W. Thompson of Woodstock, Vt,, and he 
was one of those who argued that Black Hawk was 
got by Paddy, the horse that was sold by Mr. Bellows 
to George Bothwell of Northumberland, N. H., after 
the close of the season of 1830, and was sold or sent 
by Bothwell to some one in Rhode Island. Mr. 
Bellows stated to the writer that he neither owned nor 
even ever saw Paddy again after he sold him to Mr. 
Bothwell. Benjamin Kelley, who owned the dam of 
Black Hawk when she was mated with Sherman 
Morgan, May 14, 1832, stated to Ezekiel Twombly and 
others that the man from whom he got this mare 
informed him that she was a half-bred mare that was 
raised in the Province of New Brunswick. So far 
as known Mr, Kelley never made any other statement 
concerning her origin and breeding. The writer inves- 
tigated this matter very carefully and thoroughly 
some twenty years ago and got his facts concerning 
the matter from trustworthy men who were well 
acquainted with Benjamin Kelley, Ezekiel Twombly, 

1G7 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

and the dam of Vermont Black Hawk, and Vermont 
Black Hawk himself. 

Whatever credit — or otherwise — is due the man who 
first gave to the public the story that the dam of 
Black Hawk was a pacer, or mixed gaited, and had 
white hairs mixed with the black in her coat, belongs 
to the above named Mr. Thompson, as will be seen from 
the following extract from "The Horse of America," 
by J. H. Wallace, page 378 : 

In 1876 Mr. Thompson visited Albany for the purpose of 
examining everything that had been said in The Country 
Gentleman newspaper touching on the paternity of Black 
Hawk. In "Bis search for the sire he would necessarily find 
many references to the dam, and among those references he 
was greatly surprised to find she had been described as a 
pacing mare. He goes on to say: "In our visit the same 
fall to Dover, Portsmouth, Greenland and Durham, N. H., we 
found a number that knew her when owned in Durham and 
they said she was then known as the Old Narragansett Mare." 
They said Benjamin Kelley, deceased, brought the mare into 
Durham, that he had a son John L. living in Manchester, N. 
H., and that he would know more about her. * * * 

It appears that Mr. Thompson wrote to Mr. Kelley 
and got a reply from the latter dated Manchester, N. 
H., August 25, 1876. In this letter Mr. Kelley, who in 
early life followed the sea, says that he "returned to 
Durham from a voyage in 1830; that the following 
spring his father traded for a dark tay mare, that the 
teamster from whom he got her said she was a 
Narragansett mare. She would weigh 1,000 pounds. 
This letter was written from memory some forty-six 
years after Benjamin Kelley traded for the "dark lyay 
mare called a Narragansett mare which would weigh 
1,000 pounds." It is probable that Mr. John L. Kelley 

168 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

may have been correct in his statement that his father^ 
Benjamin Kelley, traded for a bay Narragansett mare 
at the time named, but it is certain that the dam of 
Vermont Black Hawk was not a dark bay mare, was 
not called the "Old Narragansett mare" by Benjamin 
Kelley when he traded her with Ezekiel Twombly, was 
never known as such during the eight years that she 
was owned by the Twombly family; had no white hairs 
mixed through her coat, and never paced or mixed 
a step. The dam of Black Hawk was a solid black 
with the exception of a white stripe on the forehead, 
stood about sixteen hands high, weighed 1,100 pounds, 
was as square gaited a trotter as lived in her day, never 
paced or mixed, and was quite speedy. 

During a personal interview with Wingate Twombly 
in 1885, at Portsmouth, N. H., on the farm of Mr. 
Charles H. Hayes, a breeder of premium Ayrshire 
cattle, Mr. Twombly stated to the writer that the pedlar 
from whom Mr. Benjamin Kelley got the dam of Black 
Hawk said that he was from Nova Scotia and that he 
brought this mare to the states. Wingate Twombly 
was a son of Ezekiel Twombly and was born in 
Durham, N. H,, in 1806. He continued to live with 
his parents for several years after he became "of age." 
As he probably never saw the man who brought the 
mare from the Provinces, he must have got his informa- 
tion concerning the pedlar's statement from Benjamin 
Kelley, with whom he was well acquainted. Mr. 
Twombly did not say that the mare came from Nova 
Scotia, but that the pedlar came from that place. It 
i« probable that the pedlar may have got her in New 



169 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Brunswick. It is certain that he so stated to Mr. 
Benjamin Kelley. 

After interviewing and leaving Wingate Twombly, 
who occupied a dwelling on a part of Mr. Hayes* 
farm, we had a talk with Mr. Hayes. The latter did 
not claim to know anything about the mare, of his own 
personal knowledge, but informed us that a man 
named Shadrack Seavey, living a few miles from there, 
in Greenland, N. H., could tell us more about the dam 
of Black Hawk, and the early history of Black Hawk 
himself, than any other man living. He also assured 
us that we could place implicit confidence in every 
statement that Mr. Seavey made, for he was a truthful 
man and highly respected among his townsmen. We 
drove at once to the farm of Shadrack Seavey and 
interviewed him. He informed us that Black Hawk 
was foaled not later than the middle of April, 1833, 
and that he was with the mare and colt within half an 
hour after the colt was dropped. We also had several 
personal letters in regard to the dam of Black Hawk 
from A. R. Mathes shortly after our interview with 
Mr, Seavey. Mr. Mathes was then living in Connecti- 
cut. His description of the size, color, conformation 
and gait of this mare agreed completely in every 
respect with that of Shadrack Seavey. The latter 
informed us that we were the first who had ever 
interviewed him to get the facts concerning Black 
Hawk and his dam. The testimony of Mr. Seavey and 
Mr. Mathes concerning the dam of Black Hawk cannot 
be impeached, and no one who ever knew them will 
question it. The pacing cross may be a valuable factor 
in a trotting pedigree, but Black Hawk got no aid 



170 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

in this directon from a pacing dam. Those who believe 
and claim that she was a pacer were simply mistaken 
in the identity of the mare. 

The superior merit shown by the get of Vermont 
Black Hawk caused a great demand for his sons and 
daughters all over the country wherever road horses 
were bred, from Maine to California, and they sold for 
high prices. As a family they were unsurpassed 
for beauty, style and superior road qualities. Many 
of them were beautifully gaited trotters and fast for 
their day. There was a peculiar elasticity or springi- 
ness to their action, whether walking or trotting, not 
exhibited by the descendants of any other horse. 
Wherever stallions of Black Hawk descent were kept 
the horse stock of those localities soon showed marked 
improvement, in conformation, style, gait, speed and 
road qualities. Many of the produce of his daughters 
or daughters of his sons and grandsons have acquired 
great distinction either as performers or producers, or 
both. Gambetta Wilkes (2.191-4), a very successful 
son of George Wilkes as a sire, is one of them. His dam 
was by Gill's Vermont, he by Downing's Vermont, a 
son of Vermont Black Hawk, Gambetta Wilkes is 
now credited with one hundred and sixty-five that have 
made standard records, and twelve of them are in the 
2.10 list. 

Elyria (2.25 1-4), by Mambrino King, is the sire of a 
greater number of performers with standard records 
than any other stallion that is a direct descendant in 
the paternal line of Mambrino Chief. He is now 
credited with eighty-two, and sixty-nine of them are 



171 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

trotters. The dam of Elyria was by Bradford's Tele- 
graph, a son of Vermont Black Hawk. Nelson (2.09), 
by Young Rolfe (2.211-4), was the first stallion to 
take a trotting record of 2.10. This record was made 
to high wheels and over a regulation track. It has 
never been equalled by any other trotting stallion under 
similar conditions. He is now credited with fifty-one 
performers that have made records in standard time, 
a greater number than has been sired by any other 
stallion that has ever stood in Maine. The second 
dam of Nelson was a daughter of Vermont Black 
Hawk. Alcander (2.20 1-2) has sired a greater number 
of performers with records from 2.00 1-4 to 2.30 than 
any other son of Alcantara (2.23). The third dam of 
Alcander was by Vermont Black Hawk. 

Ethan Allen (2.25 1-2). The number of standard 
performers got by Vermont Black Hawk was four, 
and three of them were trotters. The number of his 
sons that sired 2.30 performers was seventeen. His 
daughters produced four that took records in standard 
time, and seven stallions that sired 2.30 speed were 
from his daughters. The most distinguished trotter 
and successful perpetuator of speed, style and beauty 
got by Vermont Black Hawk was Ethan Allen. The 
latter was bred by Joel W. Holcomb of Ticonderoga, 
N. Y., and was foaled June 18, 1849. His dam was a 
small but spirited animal, grey in color, that had 
been considerably injured by rough, hard usage before 
she was used for brood purposes. Mr. Joseph Battell 
spent much time and money carefully investigating 
her origin and history. He learned that she was bred 



172 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

by John Field of Springfield, Vt., and got by a hand- 
some Morgan built bay stallion, known as Robin, or 
Red Robin. It was believed by good judges of hor^ie 
stock who knew this Robin that he was got by the 
original Justin Morgan, but no direct proof has been 
presented to substantiate the claim, as his breeder 
had no doubt died long before Mr. Battell began his 
investigation. All who knew her agree in the state- 
ment that she was a smart, resolute traveler, and was 
a square gaited trotter. Some thought she could show 
close to tljree minute speed. Her dam had the appear- 
ance of being a Morgan and her second dam was 
believed to be a daughter of old Justin Morgan. 

Ethan Allen was a bay in color with black points, 
stood about fifteen hands at maturity, and weighed 
about one thousand pounds when in good condition. 
He was the third foal that his dam prduced by Vermont 
Black Hawk. The first was Black Hawk Maid, foaled 
in 1846, and she trotted to a record of 2.37. The 
second, foaled in 1847, called Red Leg, was not so fast 
as Black Hawk Maid, but quite a trotter in his day. 

Up to the season of 1848 the service fee of Black 
Hawk was $10, but in 1848 it was increased. Mr. 
Holcomb left the dam of Ethan Allen at Mr. Hill's 
place that season some time after she was mated with 
Black Hawk. This fact we learned from a personal 
interview in this city some twenty-five years ago with 
Mr. Noble Hill, a son of David Hill, who spent part 
of the summer of 1848 visiting his father at Bridport, 
and remembered seeing the Holcomb mare running in 
a field there. When Mr. Holcomb settled with Mr. 
Hill, the latter charged him the amount of the advanced 



173 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

service fee and also for the keep of the mare. Mr. 
Holcomb was dissatisfied with the bill, and held a 
grudge against Mr. Hill for several years on that 
account. It has been stated by some that David Hill 
was an uncle of Mr. Holcomb, but this is a mistake. 
He was an uncle of Mr. Rowe, who at one time was 
a partner of Mr. Holcomb in the ownership of Ethan 
Allen. After Ethan Allen had become somewhat 
famous on account of his elegant style, beautiful gait 
and speed, Mr. Holcomb, who was fond of a practical 
joke and wanted to annoy Mr. Hill, wrote a letter to 
Mr. Riley Adams, who then owned a handsome Morgan 
stallion called Flying Morgan, stating that he had 
made all the reputation for David Hill's stallion Black 
Hawk that he cared to, and added that Ethan Allen was 
not by Black Hawk, but was by Flying Morgan. This 
letter was written in the presence of several men in 
Mr. Holcomb's hotel at Ticonderoga. Some of them 
remonstrated with Mr. Holcomb for writing a letter 
containing so false a statement, simply for the purpose 
of annoying Mr. Hill, and he finally added a postscript, 
leaving considerable space between that and the letter. 
In the postscript, Holcomb stated that Ethan Allen 
was not by Flying Morgan, that the latter never 
smelled of Ethan Allen's dam, but that Ethan Allen 
could beat Flying Morgan. The letter was sent to Mr. 
Adams, and was soon exhibited by him to many persons 
with the postscript torn ofif. Flying Morgan bore 
some resemblance to Ethan Allen in color and con- 
formation, and many believed the false story that he 
was Ethan Allen's sire. Among those who argued 
strenuouslv that such was the case was Allen W. 



174 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

Thompson, a man who always insisted that Vermont 
Black Hawk was by Paddy, instead of Sherman 
Morgan, and who discovered ( ?) that the dam of 
Vermont Black Hawk was a pacer and was called 
"Old Narragansett." 

Flying Morgan was owned at one time by a Dr. 
Russell. Mr. Adams, who afterwards owned Flying 
Morgan, and Allen W. Thompson both claimed that, 
while Flying Morgan was owned by Dr. Russell, the 
latter drove the horse to Ticonderoga, and left him 
at the stable of Joel W. Holcomb for a day or two, 
while he went across the lake, and that while the doctor 
was away Mr. Holcomb surreptitiously mated the dam 
of Ethan Allen with Flying Morgan. Mr. Thompson 
or some one else obtained an aflfldavit from a man 
who was at one time in Mr. Holcomb's employ sub- 
stantiating the statement. Mr. Holcomb finally re- 
tracted the statement made in hi^ letter to Mr. Adams, 
acknowledged that Black Hawk was the sire of Ethan 
Allen, and said that his reason for writing such a letter 
was, that Mr. Hill charged him a "big bill on the 
old mare" and he wrote the letter to plague him 
This did not change the minds of some, however, and 
they still insisted that Ethan Allen was the same color 
as Flying Morgan, and that Black Hawk was black, 
hence Ethan Allen must have been got by Flying 
Morgan. The stud book of Black Hawk was searched 
and it was learned from it that Joel Holcomb's mare 
was mated with Black Hawk July 9, 1848; also that 
she was returned to Black Hawk June 28, 1849. As 
she produced Ethan Allen in 1849, and mares are 
usually returned on the ninth or tenth day after 



175 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

foaling, this proves that Ethan Allen was foaled June 
18th or 19th, 1849. 

Mr. Adams and Mr. Thompson claimed that it was 
in August, 1848, that Dr. Russell left Flying Morgan at 
Joel W. Holcomb's stable in Ticonderoga, and notwith- 
standing the facts shown by the stud book of Black 
Hawk, continued to assert that Ethan Allen was by 
Flying Morgan. It was known that Dr. Russell was a 
very methodical man. His accounts were carefully 
kept, and he also kept a memorandum book in which 
the events of each and every day were chronicled. 
Knowing this fact, W. H. Bliss, Esq., of Middlebury, 
Vt., aided by a son of Dr. Russell, the latter being dead, 
made a thorough search, a few years ago, for the 
doctor's old books, and finally found them. The old 
ledger of Dr. Russell shows that he bought an interest 
in Flying Morgan in 1849, and that Tie took possession 
of the horse in 1850. The doctor's old memorandum 
books show that it was August 6 and 7, 1850, when 
Flying Morgan was left at the stable of Joel W. 
Holcomb, Ticonderoga, N. Y. Ethan Allen at that 
time was about thirteen and one-half months old. 
These books of Dr. Russell are still preserved at 
Middlebury, Vt. They and the stud book of Vermont 
Black Hawk so effectually disposed of the Flying 
Morgan story that no attempt has been made to resur- 
rect it since their discovery. 

The reason for stating the above facts here is that 
many articles were written several years ago in which 
arguments were presented to try to prove that Flying 
Morgan and not Black Hawk was the sire of Ethan 
Allen. Some of these articles mav come to the notice 



176 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

of young students of the breeding problem years hence, 
who, not knowing all the facts, might be misled by them 
and think that though Ethan Allen is given in the 
Register as a son of Black Hawk, articles to the 
contrary in regard to his paternity had not come to the 
knowledge of the registrar. 

When a colt, Ethan Allen showed that he was a 
born trotter. Early in life he gave promise of great 
speed, and Mr. Holcomb sold a half interest in him 
to Orville S. Roe of Shoreham, Vt., a nephew of David 
Hill, owner of Black Hawk. When four years old he 
was matched against a trotter named Rose of Wash- 
ington, and beat her in faster time than had ever then 
been made by a trotter of that age. He did some stud 
service in Vermont in early life, but was also used on 
the track, and continued to improve in speed. On 
October 28, 1858, he became the world's champion 
trotting stallion, by taking a record of 2.28. His best 
record to harness was 2.25 1-2, made at Union Course, 
N. Y., July 12, 1860. The performance which gave 
him greatest notoriety, however, was his defeat of the 
noted Dexter, the world's champion trotter, whose 
record was then 2.19, which he afterwards lowered to 
2.17 1-4. In his match with Dexter, Ethan Allen was 
hitched with running mate. The race occurred at the 
Fashion Course, N. Y., June 21, 1867. The time of 
the fastest heat was 2.15. The well known horseman, 
Dunn Walton, informed us a few years ago that the 
day following the above race, Dan Mace drove Ethan 
Allen with a running mate a trial mile in 2.14, the last 
half in 1.04. 



177 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

In 1862, Messrs. Holcomb and Roe sold Ethan Allen 
to a Mr. Frank Baker. After keeping the horse awhile 
Mr. Baker sold him to Dan Mace and Mr. Walton. 
About 1866, Ethan Allen was bought by J. E. Maynard, 
who kept a stable for several years in Bowdoin Square, 
Boston, on the spot where the Bowdoin Square 
Theatre now stands. Mr. Maynard sold the horse to 
Eph. Simmons, but soon bought him back again, and 
in the Fall of 1868 sold him to Wesley P. Balch, who 
bought him for Col. H. S. Russell, proprietor of Home 
Farm, Milton, and for several years the efficient and 
popular Fire Commissioner of Boston. 

In 1869 and 1870, Ethan Allen stood at Mystic Park, 
in charge of J. J. Bowen, and was well patronized. 
Mr. Bowen has stated to the writer that Ethan Allen 
was the best gaited trotter and the best gentleman's 
roadster that he ever sat behind. In the fall of 1870, 
Col. Russell sold Ethan Allen to Col. Amasa Sprague 
of Providence, R. I., for $7,500. Col. Sprague kept 
the horse in Rhode Island for a time, but finally sent 
him to the breeding farm at Lawrence, Kansas, 
owned by Sprague and Akers, and the horse died there 
September 10, 1876. 

Ethan Allen is credited with six trotters that made 
records in standard time, and it is a singular fact 
that all of them were begotten before he was retired 
from the turf. The fastest of his get was Billy Barr 
(2.23 3-4), but his best campaigner was Hot Spur 
(2,24). winner of twenty-seven races. The dam of 
Hot Spur was by Hale's Green Mountain Morgan. 
Ethan Allen is credited with twenty-two sons that 
have sired standard speed, the most successful of which 

178 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

was Daniel Lambert. Daughters of Ethan Allen are 
credited with nineteen that made standard records, all 
trotters. As a sire of beautiful, stylish, prompt, cheer- 
ful roadsters Ethan Allen had no superior in his day. 
Daniel Lambert. Daniel Lambert, the most noted 
son of Ethan Allen as a sire, was bred by William H> 
Cook, Ticonderoga, N. Y., and foaled in 1858. When 
only a few days old he was bought by Uncle John 
Porter of Ticonderoga, N. Y., to be delivered at 
weaning time four months old for |300, if we remember 
correctly. Mr. Porter named the colt Hippomones. 
His dam was by old Abdallah, and his second dam by 
Stockholm's American Star. The latter was by Duroc, 
son of imported Diomed, and it is stated upon good 
authority that his dam was inbred to imported 
Messenger. Though strongly inbred to Messenger, 
his size, conformation, style, road qualities and most 
other characteristics were most emphatically Morgan. 
He was a light chestnut in color with a white stripe 
in his face and left hind foot and pastern white. We 
saw him many times and remember him as a remarkably 
handsome horse. When in his prime no horse could 
be found that equalled him in beauty of conformation, 
elegance of style, grace of carriage and poise, ease and 
elasticity of gait, excellence of quality and fineness of 
finish combined. He was of the Morgan pattern, stood 
strong fifteen hands in height, and was a horse of 
substance. He had a neat, bony head, large, expressive 
eyes, set well apart, short, lively ears always carried 
erect, a clean cut throttle, handsomely arched neck 
of good length, well set upon strong oblique shoulders, 
which gave him an upheaded, lofty appearance. His 

179 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

back was of medium length, and very strong, ribs well 
sprung from the spine, giving him a round barrel, 
which was also deep, of good length and well ribbed 
back to the hips. His loin was broad and well muscled, 
coupling strong and smooth, hips long and smoothly 
turned; croup rather straight, the whirlbone and tail 
set high, quarters strongly muscled, hocks well let 
down, forearms long, broad and muscular, canons short, 
bones of the leg of good size in proportion to weight oi 
body. His hind leg was fairly straight, but the lower 
part was joined to the hock at something of an angle, 
giving the leg a conformation like that found in many 
speedy trotters. His pasterns were short and strong, 
his feet well shaped and of the right size to harmonize 
with his limbs and barrel. The Morgans were the 
handsomest horses in the world, and Daniel Lambert in 
his prime was the handsomest of the Morgan tribe. Few 
horses have ever lived that possessed greater power of 
stamping their likeness uniformly upon their offspring 
and imparting to them the ability to perpetuate their 
good qualities through succeeding generations, than 
did this renowned son of Ethan Allen. 

Daniel Lambert was a fast, natural trotter. He 
showed so much speed as a three-year-old that his own- 
er, Mr. Porter, sent the colt to the noted trainer, Dan 
Mace, who handled him some and started him in a 
three-year-old race at the Old Saugus track, October 
22, 1861. Lady Anderson won the first heat in 2.49 1-2, 
but Daniel Lambert took the next two in 2.43, 2.42. 
After the race Dan Mace went into the stand and an- 
nounced that he would match Daniel Lambert against 
any three-year-old trotter in the world for |5,000 or 

180 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

$10,000 a side. He was a very spirited, "high strung"^ 
colt. It has been stated upon good authority that not 
long after the above race, while Dan Mace was work- 
ing him out one day, Daniel Lambert did something 
that displeased Mace and he gave the colt a sharp, 
stinging cut with the whip. This roused the old Ab- 
dallah spirit in the colt, and, if we were correctly in- 
formed, he ran two miles on the track before Mace 
could stop him. That injudicious blow spoiled Daniel 
Lambert for a track performer, and he was never raced 
afterwards. 

When Lambert was coming five years old Mr. Por- 
ter sold him for $3,000 through A. C. Harris, to R. S. 
Denny. Mr. Denny spent a portion of the summer 
months at Saratoga, N. Y., and had Daniel Lambert 
taken there for a road horse. Mr. Harris informed the 
writer that the son of Ethan Allen produced a marked 
sensation at that fashionable resort, not only on ac- 
count of his beauty and matchless style in harness, but 
also for his remarkable speed at the trot. He was the 
acknowledged king of the best roadsters in the coun- 
try, that were owned and kept there by the wealthy 
pleasure seekers gathered at Saratoga. Mr. Denny 
finally sold Daniel Lambert to Benjamin Bates, pro- 
prietor of the famous Bates farm, Watertown, Mass., 
and Cream Hill farm, Shoreham, Vt. The latter was 
a dairy farm, stocked with choice Jersey cows and 
managed by A. C. Harris, who had charge of Daniel 
Lambert when the horse was at Saratoga. Mr. Bates 
sent the horse, which had then been named Daniel 
Lambert, to Mr. Harris at Cream Hill farm in the 
spring or early summer of 1866, with instructions to 



181 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

stand him for stock purposes. Lambert made twelve 
seasons at Shoreham and received a very generous pat- 
ronage. During those twelve seasons upwards of 1,040 
mares were mated with him. After the death of Mr. 
Bates in the fall of 1877, Daniel Lambert was sent to 
the Bates farm, Watertown, Mass., where he stood for 
three seasons in charge of that courteous horseman, 
William Tourtelotte. In 1880 Gen. W. T. Withers, 
proprietor of the world-renowned Fairlawn farm, Lex- 
ington, Ky., and then one of the best-posted of all the 
trotting horse breeders in America, visited Boston for 
the purpose of inspecting Daniel Lambert and his get, 
and was so well pleased with the horse that he ar- 
ranged with a prominent business man of Boston to 
buy him. The General believed Lambert just suited to 
the mares at Fairlawn. Before the deal was complet- 
ed, however, David Snow of this city bought the 
horse, then coming twenty-three years old, for |3,500, 
and sent him to his farm in Andover, Mass. 

At the close of 1880 Daniel Lambert was credited 
with eighteen trotters in the 2.30 list, a greater number 
than stood to the credit of any other sire then living, 
and of any other sire that had ever lived, except Rys- 
dyk's Hambletonian, that was then credited with thir- 
ty-three. Mr. Snow advanced the service fee of Dan- 
iel Lambert to |200 the first season that he stood him 
at Andover. Believing that the horse was the greatest 
sire that ever lived, Mr. Snow advanced Lambert's fee 
to $500 the second season. In the fall of 1884 Mr. 
Snow disposed of all his trotting stock at auction. 
Daniel Lambert was shown to bridle at this sale, with 
his groom running by his side, and was that day the 

182 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

most elegant, aristocratic appearing and easiest mov- 
ing horse that we ever saw shown that way. The bid- 
ding on him was spirited and Mr. J. D. Ryder of Mid- 
dlebury, Vt., who represented a syndicate of horse- 
men, secured him for $1,550. The horse was taken to 
Middlebury, Vt., and kept there until his death, which 
occurred June 29, 1889. He was then upwards of 
thirty-one years old, but was as sound and free from 
blemishes as when foaled. 

No other horse of his day did as much to improve 
the beauty, style and road qualities of the horse stock 
of New England as Daniel Lambert, As a family the 
descendants of Daniel Lambert are very sensitive ani- 
mals. They resent harsh treatment most emphatically. 
Rough, loud-voiced persons who are accustomed to 
yank their horses by the bit and use the whip freely had 
better pass them by and confine themselves to animals 
of a more lethargic temperament. Treated gently but 
firmly, as all intelligent, high-spirited horses should be 
treated, they are as docile and obedient as any reason- 
able man can wish. Many of the get of Daniel Lam- 
bert were handsome enough and stylish enough to win 
blue ribbons in the show ring, and he perpetuated these 
desirable qualities through a large proportion of his 
sons and daughters. Many of his fastest trotters and 
best roadsters were from dams of Black Hawk descent, 
as were also his five most successful sons as sires. 
Daniel Lambert is credited with thirty-eight that have 
made records in standard time, all pure-gaited trotters. 
He is also credited with thirty-six sons that have sired 
one hundred and twenty-two trotters and thirty pacers 
with standard records. As a brood mare sire he was 

183 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

far superior to any other stallion that has ever stood 
in New England, and, opportunities considered, will 
rank high in this respect among the best that ever lived. 
His daughters have already produced not less than 
one hundred and nine that have made records in stand- 
ard time, and eighty-nine of them are trotters. The 
fastest performer* and best campaigners got by many 
prominent trotting sires have been from daughters of 
Daniel Lambert. 

Ben Franklin (2.29). The most successful sons of 
Daniel Lambert as sires were Ben Franklin (2.29)^ 
Aristos (2.27 34), Star Ethan, Cobden (2.28 3-4), and 
Abraham. Ben Franklin (2.29) is credited with thir- 
ty-three trotters and three pacers that have made stand- 
ard records. He is also credited with ten sons that 
have sired 2.30 speed, and his daughters have produced 
twenty-five with standard records, sixteen of which are 
trotters. The dam of Ben Franklin was Black Kate 
(dam of Addison Lambert, 2.27), by Addison, a son 
of Vermont Black Hawk. 

Aristos (2.27 3-4). Aristos (2.27 3-4) is credited 
with twenty-five trotters and five pacers that have 
taken standard records ; also with twelve sons that have 
sired standard speed, the best of which is Gillig 
(2.23 1-2). Daughters of Aristos have produced twelve 
trotters and seven pacers that have taken records in 
standard time. The dam of Aristos was Fanny Jack- 
son, that also produced Annie Page (2.271-4), M. Y. 
D. Colt (2.28 3-4), and Miss Fanny Jackson (2.30). 
Four of the sons of Fanny Jackson have sired stand- 
ard performers and five of her daughters have produced 
trotters that have taken standard records. Fanny 



184 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

Jackson was by Stonewall Jackson, a son of William- 
son's Black Hawk, by Vermont Black Hawk, and her 
dam, Betty Condon, was by North American, a son 
of the running-bred Sir Walter. 

Star Ethan. Star Ethan is credited with nine 
trotters and two pacers that have taken standard rec- 
ords; also with one son that has sired and one daugh- 
ter that has produced standard speed. The dam of 
Star Ethan was Queen of Vermont, by the Churchill 
Horse, a son of Vermont Black Hawk. 

CoBDEN (2.28 3-4). Cobden (2.28 3-4) is credited 
with two trotters and six pacers that have made stand- 
ard records, including Helen M. (2,17), that has taken 
standard records at both gaits. Helen M. was the first 
trotter ever bred in New England to trot to a record of 
2.30 or better as a two-year-old. She was foaled in 1887 
and astonished the horsemen at the New England 
Breeders' meeting. Mystic Park, September 24, 1889, 
by winning the stake for New England bred two-year- 
olds and taking a race record of 2.29 1-4. Four days 
later, at the same meeting, she was started against time 
to beat 2.29 1-4 and reduced her record to 2.28. Cob- 
den bore a stronger resemblance to his famous sire, in 
conformation, color and general characteristics, than 
any of the other sons of Daniel Lambert that we ever 
saw. He died young and left but few foals. He was 
an example of very close inbreeding. His sire, Daniel 
Lambert, was by Ethan Allen (2.25 1-2) and from Fan- 
nie Cook by old Abdallah. His dam, Clara, was also 
by Ethan Allen (2.251-2), and from the Dr. Nixon 
Mare by old Abdallah. This Clara, the dam of Cob- 
den, was also the dam of Clara Morris (2.291-4). 



185 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Had Cobden lived it is not improbable that he would 
have proved the most successful son of Daniel Lambert 
as a sire. 

Abraham. Abraham is credited with six trotters 
and one pacer that have made standard records. None 
of his sons sired a standard performer, but his daugh- 
ters produced five trotters and two pacers that took 
standard records, one of which was Monopole, trotting 
record 2.231-4, and pacing 2.081-2. The dam of 
Abraham was Polly Cook, by Vermont Black Hawk. 
The Ethan Allen branch of the Vermont Black Hawk 
family bids fair to become extinct within a few years. 
Very few stallions of that family are now kept for ser- 
vice, and those few are not receiving as much patro- 
nage as their merits deserve. 

Gen. Knox (2.311-2). Next to the Ethan Allen 
branch of the Vermont Black Hawk family, the Gen. 
Knox (2.31 1-2) branch has proved most successful in 
producing and perpetuating speed. Gen. Knox was a 
black horse with a star on the forehead and snip on 
upper lip. His nose, flanks and stifles were brown. 
He stood about 15.2 hands high and weighed about 
ten hundred and fifty pounds. His conformation 
was suggestive of power rather than elegance. He was 
a good-gaited, level-headed trotter and fast for his day. 
He was also a sound horse and an excellent roadster. 
He was bred by David Heustis, Bridport, Vt., and 
foaled in 1855. He was got by Vermont Hero, a son 
of Sherman Black Hawk, by Vermont Black Hawk. 
His dam was by Searcher, a son of Barney Henry, he 
by Signal, a son of Sir Henry, by Sir Archy; second 
dam a fast runner, that was claimed to be by a Morgan 



186 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

borse, and from a mare by Post Boy. Tbe latter was 
by Sir Henry, son of Sir Archy; dam Garland, by 
Duroc, son of imported Diomed; second dam Young 
Miller's Damsel, by Bishop's Hambletonian, a son of 
imported Messenger; and third dam the famous race- 
winning runner Miller's Damsel, by imported Mes- 
senger. 

When young, Gen. Knox was named Slasher. He 
was bought by D. A. Bennett, Bridport, Vt. Mr. Ben- 
nett sold him when two years old to Messrs. Denny 
and Bush, and they sold him when three years old to 
Col. T. S. Lang, Vassalboro, Me. Mr. Lang took the 
colt to Vassalboro and placed him in charge of Foster 
S. Palmer, who developed his speed, raced him and 
handled him in the stud during all the years that 
the horse was kept in Maine. In September, 1864, after 
upwards of one hundred mares had been mated with 
him that season, and before the season had closed, Mr. 
Palmer took Gen. Knox to the New England Fair at 
Springfield, Mass., where he won the stallion race with 
him in straight heats, time 2.31 1-2, 2.37, 2.34 1-2. The 
evening following the race Col. Lang received several 
offers for Gen. Knox. The highest was $30,000, but it 
was declined. Mr. Palmer won several races with Gen. 
Knox, and once drove him a half mile in 1.12. 

During the first few seasons that he stood in Maine, 
Gen. Knox received only a limited patronage, but after 
his merits as a trotter and sire of speed were estab- 
lished he did a very large stud service. 

Gen. Knox was bought in the spring of 1871 by F. J. 
Nodine of New York City, who was acting as agent for 
the real purchaser, Henry N. Smith, Esq., proprietor of 



187 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Fashion Farm, Trenton, N. J. It was Mr. Smith's in- 
tention to race the horse. He was entered in a race 
at Buffalo, N. Y., and was conditioned at Prospect 
Park, where he trotted a mile in 2.25 1-2, and repeated 
well within himself in 2.24. Shortly after this work- 
out he was shipped to Buffalo and placed in a new 
stall. The floor of the stall was slippery and Gen. 
Knox wrenched a fore leg so severely by slipping in his 
stall that he was unable to start in the race. 

Gen. Knox stood for service the season of 1872 in 
Westchester county, N. Y., and in 1873 was taken to 
Fashion Stud Farm, N. J., the home of the stallion 
Jay Gould (2.21 1-2), also home of the famous trotting 
mares, Lady Thorn (2.181-4), Lucy (2.181-4), and 
later of the renowned world's champion trotter, Gold- 
smith Maid (2.14). The quality and reputation of 
Maine horses were greatly improved through the in- 
fluence of Gen. Knox, and the sales of his progeny put 
a vast amount of money into the pockets of the breed- 
ers there. Descendants of his sons and daughters are 
still found in all parts of that State. They are excel- 
lent family and all-purpose animals ; most of them can 
show speed, and some are fast. The produce of mares 
of Knox descent when by stallions that are descendants 
of Rysdyk's Hambletonian make very desirable animals 
for the speedway and race track. 

Gen. Knox lived to be upwards of thirty-two years 
old. He died at Fashion Stud Farm. Trenton, N. J., 
July 29, 1887. He is credited with fifteen that made 
records from 2.18 1-4 to 2.30, all trotters. Lady Maud 
(2.18 1-4), by him, was the first trotter to take so fast 
a record as 2.22 1-4 as a five-year-old. He is credited 



188 



THE MORGAN FAMILY. 

with thirty-two sons that have sired eighty-two trot- 
ters and fifteen pacers with standard records. His 
daughters produced thirty-nine trotters and ten pacers 
that made records in standard time. 

Charles Cafprey. The most successful of Gen. 
Knox's sons as perpetuators of speed were Gen. Wash- 
ington and Charles Caffrey. The dam of Charles Caf- 
frey was Rosalind (2,21 3-4) by Alexander's Abdallah, 
and his second dam was the Burch mare (dam of Don- 
ald, 2.27). by Parker's Brown Pilot. The latter was 
by the pacer Old Copperbottom, and his dam was by 
Cherokee, a thoroughbred son of Sir Archy. Charles 
Caffrey is the sire of nineteen trotters and six pacers 
with standard records. The fastest of these is Giles 
Noyes (2.051-4). Only a few of the sons and daugh- 
ters of Charles Caffrey seem to have possessed the abil- 
ity to perpetuate speed. Four of his sons are credited 
with 2.30 performers to date, and these four are credit- 
ed with only nine performers all told in the 2.30 list, 
five of which are pacers. Daughters of Charles Caffrey 
are credited with four trotters and three pacers that 
have made standard records. 

Gen. Washington. Gen. Washington was the most 
successful son of Gen. Knox as a speed perpetuator. 
His dam was the famous Lady Thorn (2.181-4), the 
fastest trotter got by Mambrino Chief. Gen. Wash 
ington is the sire of fifteen with standard records, all 
trotters. The fastest of them is Poem (2.11 1-2). The 
dam of Poem was Sonnet (dam of Prose, 2.16 1-4, etc.), 
by Jay Gould (2.211-2). Second dam Martense Maid 
(dam of Rumor, 2.20), by Jackson's Flying Cloud, a 
son of Vermont Black Hawk. Poem is the sire of 



189 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

eleven trotters and six pacers that have made stand- 
ard records, the fastest of which to date is Lady 
Pauline C. (2.151-4). None of Poem's sons have yet 
sired a 2.30 performer, and his daughters have pro- 
duced but one, the pacer In Time (2.171-2). 

Stranger. The most noted son of Gen. Washing- 
ton as a sire is Stranger. The dam of Stranger was 
the world-renowned Goldsmith Maid (2.14) by Alex- 
ander's Abdallah. Stranger has no record, but he is 
the sire of forty in the 2.30 list, all trotters. The 
fastest of these is Colonel Kuser (2.11 1-4), whose dam 
was Inez by Jay Gould (2.21 1-2) ; second dam. West- 
ern Girl (2.27) by Richard's Bellfounder, a descendant 
of the running-bred Blucher by Duroc. Stranger has 
doubtless been favored with a better class of patrons 
than any other stallion of the Vermont Black Hawk 
family, and with the rich trotting and speed inheri- 
tance which he received from the renowned Lady Thorn 
(2.181-4), the dam of his sire, combined with that 
from his own dam, the still more renowned Goldsmith 
Maid (2.14), the most wonderful trotter that ever 
lived, it is not surprising that he is proving more suc- 
cessful as a sire and perpetuator than any other re- 
mote descendant in the paternal line of Vermont Black 
Hawk. One of the mares that was mated with Stran- 
ger was Sapphire. Her sire was Jay Gould (2.21 1-2), 
and her dam was Lucy (2,181-4), the fastest trotter 
got by the old-time world's champion trotting stallion, 
George M. Patchen (2.231-2). Two of the foals that 
Sapphire produced by Stranger were the stallions 
Nominee (2.171-4), and Nominator (2.171-4). Gold- 
smith Maid (2.14), Lady Thorn (2.181-4) and Lucy 

190 



TEE MORGAN FAMILY. 

(2.181-4) were the three fastest trotters of their day 
in the Hambletonian, Mambrino Chief and Clay trot- 
ting families. Their blood is all combined with that 
of Gen. Knox (2.31 1-2) in these stallions, Nominee 
(2.17 1-4) and Nominator (2.17 1-4) ; also in Syndic, 
whose dam, Sybil, was the sister of Sapphire. 

Stranger is credited with ten sons that have sired 
performers with standard records. They are Bursar 
(2.171-2), foaled in 1891, sire of seven trotters; Mo- 
loch (2.17), foaled in 1888, sire of six trotters and one 
pacer; Spokane (2.15 3-4), foaled in 1888, sire of five 
trotters; Boodle (2.121-2), foaled in 1886, sire of four 
trotters and one pacer; Col. Kuser (2.11 1-4), foaled in 
1890, sire of four trotters and two pacers; Syndic, 
foaled in 1886, sire of three trotters; Nominee 
(2.17 1-4), foaled in 1885, sire of one trotter and three 
pacers; Nominator (2.171-4), foaled in 1887, sire of 
one trotter and one pacer ; and Fashion, foaled in 1885, 
sire of one pacer. 

The second dams of Bursar (2.17 1-2) and Boodle 
(2.12 1-2) are by Ethan Allen (2.25 1-2) and the sec- 
ond dam of Spokane (2.15 3-4) by Gen. Knox (2.31 1-2). 
The fastest performer sired by Stranger or any of his 
sons is Evolute (2.101-2), a full sister of Evolutio 
(2.13 3-4), got by Nominee (2.171-4). It would seem 
that the only hope of perpetuating the Vermont Black 
Hawk line is through some son of Stranger, But 
should the Black Hawk family become absorbed or 
swallowed up by the Hambletonian family, as seems 
probable, the cross will always be recognized as a most 
valuable one in a light harness pedigree where beauty, 
style and superior road qualities are appreciated. 

191 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

That this cross is not detrimental to speed and race- 
winning qualities of the highest order has been decis- 
ively demonstrated. It is found in the pedigree of 
Dan Patch (1.56), that holds the world's champion 
pacing record, and in that of Major Delmar (1.59 3-4), 
next to Lou Dillon (1.58 1-2), the fastest trotter yet pro- 
duced. It occurs in the pedigrees of Fanta3y (3) 
(2.08 3-4) ; Grace Bond (3) (2.09 1-4) and Alta Ax- 
worthy (3) (2.101-2), the three greatest three-year- 
old trotters yet produced. It is also found in the ped- 
igrees of Tiverton (2.0i 1-2) and Sweet Marie (2.04 3-4), 
two of the fastest, gamiest and stoutest race trotters 
yet produced, as was proven by their performance in 
that great Transylvanian five-heat race at Lexington, 
Ky., October 6, 1904. 



192 



Chapter VII. 
EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 



Seely's American Star. — The Champion Family. — Scobey's 
Champion. — Gooding's Champion. — Charley B., (2.25). — 
The Benton Family. — ^Alexander's Norman. — Blackwood 
74. — Swigert. — The Royal George Family. — Thomas JefEer- 
son (2.23). 

In the preceding chapters an attempt has been made 
to give a concise, impartial history of the origin and 
progress of the four leading trotting families of this 
country. Many families of minor importance have 
sprung up in different parts of the country, flourished 
for a time and then disappeared, or have been ab- 
sorbed by one or the other of the four families de- 
scribed. One that contributed largely to the speed and 
racing qualities of the Hambletonian family was that 
founded by Seely's American Star. 

Seely^s American Star. The origin and breeding of 
this horse have been the subject of considerable con- 
troversy, Mr. Joseph Battell believes that he was a 
lineal descendant in the paternal line of Justin Mor- 
gan, and has presented evidence to show that such was 



193 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

the fact. We have the highest regard for Mr. Battell's 
integrity and know him to be sincere; but if we re- 
member correctly, one of his chief witnesses was a very 
estimable lady, who was quite a young girl at the time 
that the horse believed by Mr. Battell to have sired 
Seely's American Star was in existence. The testi- 
mony of such persons, when given from memory, must 
be weighed carefully when it conflicts with the testi- 
mony of those who are experts in the business of 
tracing and unraveling pedigrees. In his first volume 
of the American Trotting Eegister, Mr. John H. Wal- 
lace registered this horse as follows : "American Star 
(Seely's), ch. h., foaled 1837, got by Stockholm's 
American Star ; dam by Sir Henry, 2297 ; g d by im- 
ported Messenger, and claimed to be thoroughbred. 
Bred by Henry H. Berry, Esq., Pompton Plains, N. J. 
Owned the latter years of his life by Edmond Seely, 
Orange Co., N. Y. ; foaled 1861." Mr. Wallace was one 
of the most expert trotting pedigree tracers that has 
ever lived. On page 43 of the above-named work he 
made the following statements concerning the above 

horse : 

American Star was got by Stockholm's American Star; dam 
by Henry (Sir Henry), the competitor of (American) Eclipse, 
grandam by imported Messenger. This is getting back to 
the fountain very direct, but the pedigree is sustained by such 
circumstances as to leave no doubt as to its correctness. He 
was bred by Esquire Berry of Pompton Plains, N. J., and 
owned several of the latter years of his life by Edmond 
Seely, Orange County, N. Y. This horse's history and pedi- 
gree have been wrapped in obscurity till, at the expense of a 
good deal of time and money, I have traced him step by step 
through his whole career. * * * His sire was Stockholm's 
American Star, a son of Duroc. Duroc was a son of Diomed, 

194 



EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 

and Henry (sire of the dam of Seely's American Star) was a 
double grandson of Diomed. Their blood commingled kindly 
with the blood of Messenger and produced some wonderful 
race horses, and not a few capital trotters; but no person 
ever saw a Henry or a Duroc trot without Messenger blood in 
his veins. The Messengers could trot without the Diomeds, 
but the Diomeds could not trot without the Messengers. 
Hence American Star is indebted to his grandam, the daugh- 
ter of Messenger, for the trotting action he possessed and 
imparted to his progeny; and he is indebted to Duroc for the 
tenderness of limb observable in so many of his descendants. 

The volume from which the above is copied was en- 
tered according to Act of Congress in 1871. Mr. 
Wallace, as all who knew him personally or through 
his writings are aware, was a man noted for strong 
prejudices; so strong in fact that his better judgment 
was sometimes warped thereby. Several years after 
the above was published Mr. Wallace became so strong- 
ly prejudiced against a thoroughbred or running cross 
in a trotter that he undertook to eliminate or suppress 
running crosses in several well known trotting pedi- 
grees. On flimsy, third-hand, hearsay evidence, he 
changed the sire of North American from the running 
bred Sir Walter to a large pacing horse that was 
used to haul a water cart. He also denied that Seely's 
American Star was by Stockholm's American Star and 
asserted that even if he were, nobody knew the breeding 
of Stockholm's American Star. We believe Mr. Wal- 
lace stated the truth in Volume 1 of the American 
Trotting Register when he asserted that he had "at the 
expense of a good deal of time and money, traced 
Seely's American Star through his whole career and 
learned that he was by Stockholm's American Star; 



195 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

dam by Henry, son of Sir Archy, and second dam by 
Imported Messenger." It is not probable that a man 
of Mr. Wallace's natural ability and great experience 
in tracing pedigrees would be deceived or misled in 
regard to this important pedigree which cost him so 
much time and money to investigate. 

But little is known of Stockholm's American Star. 
The most complete description of him that we have 
ever seen was contained in a letter written to H. T. 
Helm, Esq., author of American Roadsters and 
Trotters, by Mr. Ambrose Stevens of Batavia, N. Y., 
and is as follows : 

Now while my hand is in I will tell you something about 
Stockholm's American Star. I saw him run and win his two- 
mile race at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1830. He was one of 
the grandest horses I ever saw; fine size, splendid dappled 
chestnut, quite dark, and dappled beautifully; had a white 
foot behind, a star and snip, arched neck, high withers (not 
like old Duroc there and most of his get), had a neat head, 
level rump, and was altogether one of the grandest horses I 
ever saw. His trotting action was splendid and ne had to 
be whipped to force him to gallop. Mr. Stockholm (his 
owner) told me that his dam was by Mambrino, son of Mes- 
senger, and his grandam was by Imported Messenger, and I 
made a memorandum of it; and he agreed to consider my 
proposition to sell me the horse, but the treaty came to 
nothing. Stockholm represented the horse thoroughbred and 
the horse showed it. He won a game race, and would in 
this day be a trotter of the first class. 

The above is very interesting, as it comes from a man 

who was a good judge of horse stock and who owned 

good horses. Being by such a sire as that, Seely's 

American Star had a right to be a good gaited trotter 

as well as fast runner. 



196 



EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 

Seely's American Star was foaled in 1837. He was 
chestnut in color, with a stripe in his face and two 
white stockings behind. He is described by those who 
knew him as a racy, blood-like appearing animal, with 
a slim tail that was not burdened with a luxuriant 
growth of hair. He was trained at first as a runner, 
and gained quite a local reputation as a short distance 
race winner. Later in life he was converted to the 
trot, and was quite fast at that gait for that early 
day. He sired a few trotters, the fastest of which by 
the records was Widow Machree (2.29). There were 
others by him that could show much more speed than 
Widow Machree. One of them was a mare called 
Peerless, owned by Robert Bonner. Upwards of forty 
years ago Peerless could and did trot a quarter of a 
mile at a two-minute gait. The noted old time reins- 
man, Hiram Woodruff, says of her in his Trotting 
Horse of America, page 84: "I drove Mr. Bonner's 
gray mare. Peerless, a quarter in thirty seconds, and 
it was to a wagon. ... It was on the Union 
Course. Captain Moore timed her unknown to me or 
anybody else. ... To make sure that there was 
no mistake in the distance, he went and got his chain 
and boy and measured the ground." Very few of the 
fastest trotters of today could pull the kind of wagons 
in use at that time a quarter in thirty seconds. 

Seely's American Star was the sire of four trotters 
that took records of 2.30 or better. Seven of his sons 
sired standard performers. He was the most noted 
brood mare sire of his day. His daughters produced 
forty-eight trotters and one pacer with standard 
records. They also produced not less than fifty-eight 



197 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

stallions that have sired 2.30 speed, the most prominent 
of which are Robert McGregor (2.171-2), sire of the 
world's champion trotting stallion Cresceus (2.02 1-4, 
etc.). Dictator, Aberdeen, Jay Gould (2.211-2), Sweep- 
stakes, Master lode, Strader's Hambletonian (also 
known as Squire Talmage), Ajax and Arthurton. 

The descendants of Seely's American Star were more 
noted for courage of the win-or-die stamp than those 
of any other trotting stallion, either before or since 
his time. His daughters mated with Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian produced the fastest and best trotters of their 
day, including the old-time world's champion. Dexter 
(2.17 1-4). Dictator, a full brother of Dexter, got the 
renowned double-gaited performer, Jay-Eye-See, the 
first trotter to take so fast a record as 2.10. Eight 
years after Jay-Eye-See trotted to a record of 2.10 he 
made a pacing record of 2.06 1-4. A daughter of 
Dictator produced the noted ex-champion trotter 
Nancy Hanks (2.04). Director (2.17), a son of Dic- 
tator, sired the world's champion four-year-old trotter 
Directum (2.051-4). This family is now extinct, but 
the influence that Seely's American Star exerted 
through his daughters upon the Hambletonian family, 
in the improvement of speed or increase of speed 
ability and other valuable racing qualities, will last 
as long as trotters are bred in America. 

The Champion Family. Another trotting family 
that was quite prominent at one time, but has become 
nearly extinct, is that known as the Champion. This 
family originated from the same source, in the paternal 
line, as Abdallah, the sire of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, 
founder of the renowned Hambletonian family. Mr. 



198 



EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 

John Tredwell, who bred old Abdallah, had a pair of 
matched mares that he used for his private driving. 
They were named Amazonia and Sophonisba. In 1822 
Mr. Tredwell mated these mares with Mambrino, a 
thoroughbred son of imported Messenger. Both pro- 
duced colt foals. That of Amazonia was old Abdallah. 
Sophonisba's colt was named Almack and was kept 
for stock purposes. In 1842 a mare called Spirit was 
mated with Almack. Spirit was by Engineer 2d, and 
her dam was a daughter of the great four-mile race 
winner American Eclipse. This Engineer 2d got the 
renowned Lady Suffolk (2.291-2), the world's cham- 
pion trotter in her day. The following year, 1843, 
Spirit produced a chestnut colt with white ankles 
behind and a white spot in the form of a diamond 
on his nose or upper lip. When this colt was two 
years old he was bought by Mr. William R. Grinnell 
of New York State for |550. Mr. Grinnell named him 
Champion, and he is now known as Grinnell's Cham- 
pion. He was a born trotter. It is a matter of 
history that in September, when two years old past, he 
was led a mile at the trot on Fashion course. Long 
Island, in 3.05 1-2, a performance that had up to that 
time never been equalled by a trotter of that age. 
Grinnell's Champion never got a 2.30 trotter, but he 
was the founder of the family of trotters known a8 
Champion. 

ScoBEY^s Champion. The most successful son of 
Grinnell's Champion as a sire was known as Scobey's 
Champion and also as King's Champion. He is regis- 
tered as Champion 807. He was foaled in 1849. His 
dam was by Red Bird, a son of Billy W. Duroc, by 



199 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Duroc, son of imported Diomed. Scobey's Champion 
got eight trotters that took records of 2.30 or better, 
the fastest of which was Nettie Burlew (2.24). Six of 
his sons have sired standard performers and his 
daughters produced eight trotters with records of 2.30 
or better. His most successful sons as sires are 
Charley B. (2.25) and Gooding's Champion. 

GooDiNG^s Champion is registered as Champion 808, 
and is credited with seventeen that have made standard 
records, all trotters. He seemed to lack ability to 
perpetuate speed, however, as only one of his sons is 
found in the Great Table, and he is the sire of but one 
standard performer. The dam of Gooding's Champion 
was a fast trotter called Cynthia, whose sire was Bart- 
lett's Turk, by Weddle's Turk, a son of Imported 
Turk. His second dam was Fanny, by Scobey's Black 
Prince; and his third dam by Rock Planter, a son of 
Duroc, by imported Diomed. 

Charley B. (2.25). The most successful sire in the 
Champion family was Charley B. (2.25), a full brother 
of the trotting mare Myrtle (2.251-2). He was by 
Scobey's Champion and from the great brood mare 
Old Jane. The breeding of Old Jane seems to be 
somewhat in doubt. It has been claimed that she was 
by Nimrod, a grandson of American Eclipse, and her 
second dam by Dey's Messenger. The American 
Trotting Register gives Old Jane's sire as Magnum 
Bonum, but does not give Magnum Bonum's sire. It 
is not improbable that Magnum Bonum was another 
name, real or imaginary, for Nimrod. Charley B. was 
not only a fast game trotter, but he was a winner of 
the blue ribbon in the show ring against some very 

200 



EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 

handsome horses. His owner once offered to back him 
with money to raise a heavier weight from a stone 
quarry than could be raised by any imported Percheron 
or Clydesdale in America. Charley B. does not seem 
to have been very successful, however, as a speed 
perpetuator, yet it may have been from lack of oppor- 
tunity. He was foaled June 16, 1869, and died 
November 24, 1896. He is credited with three sons 
that have sired four trotters with records of 2.30 or 
better and with ten daughters that have produced six 
trotters and four pacers that have made standard 
records. 

Some of the Champions could show wonderful bursts 
of speed at the trot. The old-time trainer Hiram 
Woodruff speaks of the "Auburn Horse" in the Trotting 
Horse of America as even faster for a brush than 
Peerless, which he drove a quarter in 30 seconds to 
wagon. The Auburn Horse's sire was Champion, Jr., 
a son of Grinnell's Champion. Many of the Champions 
possessed such a highly nervous temperament that 
care was necessary in handling them. They were apt 
to contract the habit of pulling on the bit so strongly 
as to be unpleasant drivers. The family is now prac- 
tically extinct, as no direct descendant of Champion 
in the paternal line is breeding on. 

The Benton Family. The Benton family is another 
that possessed wonderful speed, and at one time 
seemed in a fair way to make a strong bid for cham- 
pionship honors, but has been absorbed by the Ham- 
bletonian family. The founder of this family was Gen. 
Benton, a horse owned for several years at the 
renowned Palo Alto breeding establishment. He was 



201 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

bred by Gen. Alfred Benton, Jefferson county, N. Y., 
and foaled in 1868. He was bought by Gov. Stanford, 
proprietor of Palo Alto, in 1877, for $25,000, just twice 
the sum that he had paid for Electioneer in 1875. At 
the time of his purchase it was thought by what he 
had shown that Gen. Benton possessed as much nat- 
ural speed at the trot as any stallion then living. 
With but little handling he had shown a mile in 2.17, 
if we remember correctly, and quarters at a much 
faster clip on a half-mile track in New York State. 

The breeding of Gen. Benton, as given by Gov. 
Stanford in the Palo Alto catalogue and also in the 
American Trotting Register, is as follows: Sired by 
Jim Scott; dam Lady Benton, by Gray's Hambleton- 
ian; second dam by Partridge's Blucher, son of the 
thoroughbred Blucher by Duroc; third dam by Bush's 
Messenger, thoroughbred son of imported Messenger. 
Jim Scott, the sire of Gen. Benton, was by Rich's 
Hambletonian, son of Spaulding's Abdallah, and he 
by old Abdallah, the son of Mambrino by imported 
Messenger that got Rysdyk's Hambletonian. The dam 
of Rich's Hambletonian was by imported Trustee, and 
his second dam was by old Abdallah, making 
him quite closely inbred to that famous son 
of Mambrino. The dam of Jim Scott, sire of 
Gen. Benton, was by Stubtail, a son of Moody's 
Blucher, and he by Hungerford's Blucher, son of the 
thoroughbred Blucher by Duroc. The second dam of 
Jim Scott was by Greenbush Hambletonian, a son of 
Mambrino by imported Messenger. The dam of 
Spaulding's Abdallah was by Star Gazer, a son of 
Engineer by imported Messenger, and his second dam 



202 



EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 

a Canadian. Gray's Hambletonian, sire of the dam 
of Gen. Benton, was by Bloomer's Hambletonian, a son 
of Andrus' Hambletonian, and he by Judson's Ham- 
bletonian, a son of the thoroughbred Bishop's 
Hambletonian, by imported Messenger. The dam of 
Gray's Hambletonian, sire of Bloomer's Hambletonian, 
was also by Judson's Hambletonian, mentioned above. 
Blucher was by Duroe, son of imported Diomed. His 
dam was Young Miller's Damsel by Bishop's Hamble- 
tonian, and his second dam was the famous race mare 
Miller's Damsel, by imported Messenger, that, mated 
with Duroc, produced the successful four-mile race 
horse, American Eclipse. 

Gen. Benton was probably as strongly bred in Mes- 
senger lines as any horse of his day. His pedigree 
shows no less than thirteen known crosses of imported 
Messenger. The only unknown element in his pedigree 
is the Canadian mare, the second dam of Spaulding's 
Abdallah, and the dam of Wells' Magnum Bonum. 
The latter got the dam of Judson's Hambletonian, and 
was a son of imported Magnum Bonum. Gen. Benton 
was raced a little in New York State. He won a race 
at Watertown, N. Y., September 18, 1874, but no time 
was given. He also won two races in 1875, one at 
Ogdensburg, N. Y., in which he took a record of 2.37 1-2, 
and another at Toronto, Out., the fastest heat of which 
he won in 2.38 1-4. 

Gov. Stanford evidently believed, at first, that Gren. 
Benton would prove a better sire than Electioneer, for 
upon his arrival at Palo Alto the son of Jim Scott 
was placed at the head of the stud in the trotting 
department. Two years later, 1880, Fred Crocker, 

203 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

by Electioneer, lowered the world's two-year-old cham- 
pion trotting record to 2.25 1-4, and after that Gen. 
Benton had to take a back seat. He died at Palo 
Alto in November, 1888. 

Gen. Benton is credited with nineteen trotters and 
one pacer that made records in standard time. The 
fastest of these is The Seer (2.15 3-4). The next fast- 
est was Sally Benton, that lowered the world's 
champion four-year-old trotting record to 2.17 3-4 in 
1884. Gen. Benton is credited with seventeen sons that 
have sired thirty-three trotters and three pacers with 
standard records. The most successful of his sons 
as sires are Daly (2.221-2) and The Seer (2.15 3-4). 
The former is credited with eight trotters and two 
pacers that are standard performers, and the latter 
with five trotters. Gen. Benton is also credited with 
thirty-seven daughters that have produced fifty-eight 
trotters and eight pacers with standard records. 
Among them are Lena N. (2.051-4), Sunol (2.081-4) 
and Surpol (2.10). Gov. Benton (2.221-2), sire of 
Benton M. (2.10) and others, was also from a daughter 
of Gen. Benton, and the sire of Gov. Benton was Maj. 
Benton, a full brother of Gen. Benton. The latter, as 
will be observed above, was much more successful as 
a sire of producing dams than of producing stallions. 
The family founded by Gen. Benton has become nearly 
extinct. The cause may have been lack of opportu- 
nities of his sons. It certainly was not for lack of the 
blood of that most famous of all progenitors of trot- 
ting instincts of his day, imported Messenger. 

Alexander's Norman. Another family that was 
quite prominent twenty-five or thirty years ago, but 

204 



EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 

is now perpetuating speed only through the female 
line, is that founded by Alexander's Norman, registered 
as Norman 25. This horse was owned for some time 
at Woodburn Farm. He traced directly through his 
sire, the Morse Hor<3e, to an imported French stallion, 
known both as European and the McNitt Horse, that 
was quite a fast trotter himself, though not known to 
have any trotting inheritance. The dam of the Morse 
Horse was by Harris' Hambletonian, son of Bishop's 
Hambletonian, a running bred son of imported Mes- 
senger. The dam of Alexander's Norman was a de- 
scendant of imported Magnum Bonum, a thoroughbred 
horse that was quite strongly inbred to the renowned 
Godolphin Arabian. Alexander's Norman was evi- 
dently more successful as a sire of extreme speed than 
of uniform standard speed. He is credited with but 
two in the standard list, viz.. May Queen (2.20) and 
Lula (2.15), neither of which derived any trotting in- 
heritance from their dams. 

Blackwood 74. Alexander's Norman is credited 
with four sons that sired fifty-seven trotters and three 
pacers that made standard records. The most suc- 
cessful of these were Blackwood 74 and Swigert 650. 
Blackwood was considered a trotting wonder in early 
life. He took a record of 2.31 as a three-year-old in 
1869, then the world's champion three-year-old trotting 
record, and was sold as a five-year-old for $30,000, if 
report was correct, to Mr. Harrison Durkee of Flush- 
ing, Long Island, N. Y. He is credited with nine that 
made standard records, all trotters, the fastest of which 
was Proteine (2.18). The number of his sons which 
sired standard performers is thirteen and the total 

205 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

number credited to them is seventeen trotters and 
seven pacers, twenty-four in all, an average of less 
than two standard performers each. Blackwood's 
daughters were much more successful as producers 
than his sons, as thirty-one of them produced thirty- 
five trotters and ten pacers that made standard rec- 
ords. No stallion that we can recall, which is a direct 
descendant of Blackwood in the paternal line, is now 
perpetuating standard speed. Blackwood was foaled 
in 1866 and died in 1891. 

SwiGERT. The dam of Swigert was Blandina by 
Mambrino Chief, and his second dam was the Burch 
mare by Old Copperbottom. The latter was by Brutus, 
whose sire was the original Copperbottom from 
Canada, and whose dam was by Robin Grey, a running 
bred son of imported Royalist. The dam of Brown 
Pilot was by Cherokee, a thoroughbred son of Sir 
Archy. Swigert was foaled at Woodburn Farm in 
1866, and was sold as a yearling to Richard Richard* 
of Racine, Wis. He was never raced, but was handled 
for speed in his ten and eleven-year-old form. At the 
Wisconsin State Fair in 1877, when eleven years old, 
Swigert trotted an exhibition mile in 2.30 and a half 
in 1.13. Swigert is credited with forty-six trotters 
and two pacers that made standard records. The 
fastest of these was Brilliant, that took a record of 
2.17 1-4 against time. Swigert's most successful cam- 
paigner was Moody, race record (2,181-2), got when 
Swigert was seven years old, and before his speed was 
developed. Swigert was not much more successful as 
a perpetuator of uniform standard speed than Black- 
wood. He is credited with thirty-nine sons that sired 



206 



EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 

a total of ninety-four standard performers, sixty-five 
of which were trotters. He is also credited with 
thirty-five daughters that have produced thirty-two 
trotters and eleven pacers which have made standard 
records. Swigert has ceased to perpetuate standard 
speed through the male line. 

Daughters of Alexander's Norman were more suc- 
cessful as speed perpetuators than his sons. May 
Queen (2.20), mated with Electioneer, produced May 
King (2.20), sire of the popular stallion Bingen 
(2.061-4); Lula (2.15), mated with George Wlkes 
(2.22), produced a daughter, that mated with Election- 
eer, produced Advertiser (2,151-4), a fast trotter and 
quite a successful sire of speed. One of his get was Ad- 
bell, that holds the world's champion record for yearling 
trotters, 2.23. This family has become absorbed by 
and assimilated with the Hambletonian family, but it 
is a valuable factor in a trotting pedigree. It is sure 
to breed on through May King (2.20) and Advertiser 
(2.151-4). 

The Royal George Family. Thirty years ago the 
Royal George family gave promise of becoming quite 
prominent. The founder of this family was Royal 
George, a son of Warrior, also known as Black 
Warrior. The author of the American Trotting 
Register gives the sire of Warrior as Tippoo, and that 
of the latter as a Narragansett pacer. Some fifteen 
or twenty years ago we attempted to investigate the 
I)edigree of this horse, Warrior, the sire of Royal 
George. Among the communications that were re- 
ceived in relation to the matter was one from Amo's 
Barnes, who lived not far from London, Ontario, and 

207 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

who owned Warrior for several years. Mr. Barnes 
bought Warrior from a Mr. Cushman, and he bought 
him when eight or nine years old from a townsman 
that bred and raised the horse. This man said that 
Warrior was got by a thoroughbred horse owned by an 
officer in the English Army, who brought him from 
England to Canada, and that this thoroughbred, the 
sire of Warrior, was from a family of horses called 
Warrior. The officer took this horse to Long Island 
and sold him. Mr. Barnes says that the dam of War- 
rior was described as a fine brown mare of the Tippoo 
breed, and that this was where the Tippoo cross came 
into the pedigree. The dam of Royal George came 
from the vicinity of Middlebury, Vt., and was said to 
be by Harris' Hambletonian. 

F. A. Ashbaugh, Esq., of Hamilton, Canada, stated 
in a letter dated November 20, 1887, that "Royal George 
must have got a good deal of hot blood in his veins, 
for he was famous as a quarter-mile runner, and was 
the champion of Canada for three miles mixed, viz., 
one milk walk, one mile trot, and one mile run." Mr. 
Ashbaugh adds that Royal George must have been "of 
good running stock, as he was the sire of Palermo, 
winner of the Queen's Plate, then the most coveted 
prize in Canada for the gallopers." The above seems 
to be quite conclusive evidence that the sire of Warrior 
was not a Narragansett pacer. 

Royal George is credited with one trotter that made 
a standard record, Lady Byron (2.28), and she was 
a successful race mare. Five of the sons of Royal 
George were sires of standard speed. Among the best 
known of these were Chandler J. Wells, Field's Royal 

208 



EXTINCT TROTTING FAMILIES. 

George and Toronto Chief. Some of the mares which 
C. J. Hamlin used for the purpose of founding the 
noted Village Farm breeding establishment were 
descendants of Chandler J. Wells. The best of the get 
of Field's Eoyal George was the stallion Byron 
(2.251-2), the sire of Ottawa Chief (2.25). 

Thomas Jefferson (2.2-3). The most successful son 
of old Royal George as a sire and perpetuator of speed 
was Toronto Chief (2.31), and the best of Toronto 
Chief's get was the handsome game trotting stallion 
Thomas Jefferson (2.23), bred and owned by William 
B. Smith, of Hartford, Conn. During his racing 
career, Thomas Jefferson beat some of the best 
trotters of his day, including George Wilkes 
(2.22), Mambrino Gift (2.20) and Smuggler 
(2.151-4). He won a |10,000 purse at Buffalo, 
N. Y., in 1874, and also won the |10,000 Stallion 
race at Mystic Park in 1875. He won in all 
thirty-one races and thirty-nine heats in 2.30 or better. 
He was the "bright particular star" in the Royal 
George family both as a trotter and sire of trotters. 
He is credited with eighteen trotters and one pacer 
that made records in standard time. His sons, how- 
ever, made a very poor showing as sires. Only two of 
them were sires of standard speed, and those two got 
but three standard performers all told. His daughters 
have produced nine trotters and six pacers that made 
standard records. 

These are only a few of the trotting families that 
have become practically extinct or have ceased to per- 
petuate speed directly through the male line. Some of 
the others are the Winthrop Morrill, the Eaton, the 

209 



TEE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Drew, the Brandy Wine, and the Rising Sun, all of 
which have flourished in Maine in years past; also the 
Harris Hambletonian, and the Morrill of Vermont; 
the Columbus, the St. Clair and many others. 

It looks now as though the Hambletonian family 
may swallow up all the others and finally that the 
most powerful and most prolific speed producing 
branches of that family may exterminate all the others. 
The branches between which the great battle will finally 
be fought, judging from present appearances, are those 
which sprang from George Wilkes, Electioneer, Alexan- 
der's Abdallah, Dictator, Harold and Strathmore. The 
chances now seem to favor the Wilkes branch as the 
final victor. By absorbing and assimilating the many 
extinct trotting families the Hambletonian family has 
been greatly improved in conformation, style, road 
qualities, speed, courage and endurance. 



210 



Chapter VIII. 
TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 



Pilot.— Pilot, Jr.— Bayard, (2.31 3-4).— Tattler (2.26).— Daugh- 
ters of Pilot, Jr.— Nutwood (2.18 3-4).— Midnight.— Water- 
witch. — Tackey. — ^Wilson's Blue Bull. — Whitehall, — Rhode 
Island. — Grov. Sprague (2.201-2). — Blanco. — Tom Rolfe 
(2.331-2). — Young Rolfe. — Pocahontas Boy. — Pocahontas 
Sam. 

Several trotting families of greater or less note have 
been founded by pacers or sons of pacers. Most of 
these families, however, have been of short duration. 
They evidently lacked the ability to perpetuate trotting 
speed through succeeding generations in the paternal 
line, and have become extinct as families. Such were 
the Copperbottom, the Red Buck, the Davy Crockett, 
the Drennon, the Hiatoga, the Corbeau, the Columbus, 
the St. Clair and some other minor families. The only 
families of note that were of pacing origin, which are 
now perpetuating in the male line, are the Pilot, Jr., 
and Blue Bull. A study of the Great Table in the Year 
Book for the past ten years must convince every 
unprejudiced horseman that these, too, will soon become 
extinct. 



211 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Pilot. The founder of the Pilot, Jr. family was a 
grey horse, foaled in 1844, whose sire was a fast and 
powerful pacer, known as Pilot or old pacing Pilot. 
He was a black horse about fifteen hands high and of 
Canadian origin, became the property of a pedlar and 
was taken as far south as New Orleans, from there 
to Kentucky, where he performed stud service for 
some time. He was a resolute horse and pulled very 
strongly on the bit. It has been stated upon good 
authority that he paced a mile under saddle in 2.26. 

PiLOT^ Jr. Several of Pilot's sons were kept for 
stock purposes, the most noted of which as a sire of 
trotters was Pilot, Jr. The latter, a good-gaited 
trotter, showed no inclination to pace, and could trot 
a mile in about 2.35 to harness, which but few stallions 
of his day could do. The dam of Pilot, Jr., was known 
as Nancy Pope. Her breeding was the subject of con- 
siderable controversy several years ago, as some of 
our readers doubtless remember, and Mr. Wallace 
finally persuaded some of the Board of Censors to 
believe that her sire was a large bay cart horse of 
unknown breeding. Mr. Wm. Pope, the breeder of 
Nancy Pope, so far as we have been able to learn, 
enjoyed a good reputation for veracity. No one who 
knew him has ever gone on record as accusing him 
of dishonesty or untruthfulness. He always claimed 
while living that Nancy Pope was by a horse called 
Havoc, owned by Mr. Peter Funk. The statement of 
the breeder of an animal is the strongest evidence that 
can be presented of that animal's paternity. The fact 
that Nancy Pope was by a running-bred horse called 
Havoc was never questioned until Mr. J. H. Wallace 



212 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

had become thoroughly imbued with the idea that 
trotting speed could not come from an animal whose 
sire or dam was from thoroughbred stock. 

The pedigree of Nancy Pope as it now appears in 
Wallace's American Trotting Register, rests solely 
upon the statements of Mr. Edmund Pearce, who was 
a mere youth at the time that Mr. Peter Funk owned 
the stallion Havoc, by Sir Charles. The pedigree of 
Nancy Pope was not assailed and investigated by Mr. 
Wallace until after the death of Mr. Pope, her breeder, 
and Mr. Funk, the owner of her sire. When Mr. Wal- 
lace registered Pilot, Jr., in Vol. 1 of the American 
Trotting Register, he gave his pedigree as follows: 
"Got by old Pilot, a Canadian pacer ; dam Nancy Pope 
by Havoc 1118 ; second dam by Nancy Taylor by Alfred, 
53." Mr. Wallace evidently did not know at that time 
that there were two stallions called Havoc that were 
sired by Sir Charles, but took it for granted that the 
Havoc referred to must be the one registered by him in 
his thoroughbred Stud Book under No. 1,118. 

Mr. Wallace learned that Nancy Pope, the dam of 
Pilot, Jr., was foaled not later than 1825. He was 
informed by Attorney General Speed that Nancy 
Taylor, the dam of Nancy Pope, became the property 
of his father in 1824. Attorney General Speed fixed 
upon this date, 1824, from memory, but it was after- 
wards discovered that he had made a mistake of nine 
years, and that it was not till 1833 that Nancy Taylor 
became the property of his father. Mr. Wallace found 
upon referring to the registration of Havoc 1,118 that 
this son of Sir Charles was not foaled until 1826, 
which proved conclusively that as Nancy Pope w?r 



213 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

foaled as early as 1825, she could not possibly be by 
Havoc 1,118. He soon learned, however, that Havoc 
1,118 had never been claimed as the sire of Nancy Pope, 
but that her sire was the Havoc by Sir Charles, which 
was owned by Mr. Peter Funk. Continuing his investi- 
gations Mr. Wallace learned that Funk's Havoc, by 
Sir Charles, died about 1827 or 1828. He then found 
Mr. Edmund Pearce, a man of unquestioned veracity, 
who when a boy lived in the neighborhood of Mr. Funk. 
Some fifty years had elapsed between the foaling of 
Nancy Pope and the time that Mr. Pearce made his 
statements in regard to Havoc, and he relied solely 
upon his memory in the matter. He stated that Nancy 
Pope was not foaled until 1831 or 1832, and was got by 
a large bay cart horse called Havoc, that was owned 
by Mr. Funk who owned the Havoc that died about 
1828 and was got by Sir Charles, a son of Sir Archy. 
All that Mr. Pearce claimed to know about the matter 
was that he heard Mr. Frye, who was Mr. Pope's 
overseer, say that Nancy Pope was got by a fine draught 
horse that stood over on the Shelbyville Pike, about 
four miles from Mr. Pope's residence. Mr. Pearce 
also stated positively that Mr. Funk did have a })ay 
horse when he (Pearce) was a boy and he was said to 
be a blood horse, but he knew he was not the sire of 
Nancy Pope. 

Now, as already remarked, something like fifty 
years had elapsed between the time that Nancy Pope 
was foaled, and that when Mr. Pearce made the above 
statement. He relied solely upon his memory. The 
matter was one which could not have been of the 
slightest interest to him at the time it occurred, and 

214 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

yet he does not hesitate to state positively that Naney 
Pope was not foaled until 1831 or 1832. It was a very 
remarkable assertion, and it is not surprising that 
though an upright man, who believed he was correct, 
he made a mistake in the date as other honest men have 
done before. That such was the case has been proven 
beyond question, and that Nancy Pope was foaled as 
early as 1825 there is not a shadow of doubt. 

Mrs. Funk, widow of the man who owned Havoc, 
and by events which occurred about the time that the 
horse died, fixes the date of Havoc's death as 1827. 
She stated that Havoc was a chestnut in color. John 
Funk, a son of the owner of Havoc, remembered the 
horse well. He was as old as Mr. Pearce, and a more 
competent witness because his opportunity of knowing 
the facts were superior to those of Mr. Pearce. In 
a letter to J. H. Wallace, this John Funk describes 
the horse as follows: "Havoc was undoubtedly a 
thoroughbred, on one side closely descended from 
Diomed, and on the other side Buzzard. My father 
did not breed him, but purchased him." Mr. John 
Funk also stated that Havoc was a chestnut in color. 
This is the horse that Mr. Wallace's witness, Edmond 
Pearce, who probably never saw him in his life, de- 
scribed as a J)ay draught horse, for Mr. Funk never 
owned but one stallion called Havoc. Mr. Pearce 
stated from memory that Mr. Frye, Mr, Pope's over- 
seer, said the horse stood about four miles from Mr. 
Pope's place at Louisville. The actual distance was 
eight miles. The matter of distance was of very small 
importance, but it shows that the memory of Mr. 

215 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Pearce was so much at fault as to cast doubt on all 
his other statements. 

There was another man whose opportunities for 
knowing and remembering the facts in regard to this 
matter were better than those of Mr. Pearce. This 
was Mr. Charles Anderson, who was a little older than 
Mr. Pearce, and who at the time of Havoc, lived within 
one and one-half miles of Mr. Funk. Mr. Anderson 
was much more intimate with the Funk family and 
Mr. Funk's horses than was Mr. Pearce. The contro- 
versy in regard to the breeding of Nancy Pope and 
the statements in regard to her sire, Funk's Havoc, 
were brought to the notice of Mr. Anderson, and he 
was urged by parties who were anxious to know the 
truth, to state what he knew of the matter. This he 
did in a letter to Mr. Wallace. The letter was pub- 
lished in Wallace's Monthly, but not till after it had 
been decided upon the strength of Mr. Pearce's state- 
ments that the sire of Nancy Pope, dam of Pilot, Jr., 
was a large bay cart horse. A part of Mr. Anderson's 
letter was as follows: 

As far as I am concerned, the reminiscences of my friends, 
Speed, Pearce and Gray, as well as your "pet theory" of 
breeding, must alike go down before my confidence in the 
simple honesty of Major Funk in these transactions. This is 
my main motive to this reply; to respond to a call from my 
especial friend, Andrew Steele, and to correct the misunder- 
standings of my former and forgotten statements, are my 
lesser purposes, t know very little of this controversy. As 
it seems to me, it is only the accidental status of your present 
discussion which gives the least significance or interest to 
my knowledge. 

Our neighbor, Major Funk, one and one-half miles off, in or 
about the year 1822, became infected with a violent passion. If 



216 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

not mania, lor racing and for breeding race horses. He was 
alone in his taste or enterprise, of all the citizens of Jefferson 
County of that time. He bought some stock, laid out a race 
track, built stables, etc., and gathered such a crowd of stal- 
lions, mares, keepers, trainers, riders and other attendant 
persons and things, that his new enterprise became, with 
different minds of the neighborhood, a cause of surprise, re- 
gret and derision. I do not know or believe that any other 
man in the coimty had a thoroughbred of either sex. I am 
sure Mr. Funk then had (as far as he knew) no other sort for 
breeding. These appear fo me to be important items in this 
question as it stands. 

Amongst these stallions in training, or standing, there were 
Stockholder, Archer (also by Sir Archy), Sea Serpent, by 
Shylock (I believe), Conqueror, Whip Tiger, with other less 
distinguished juveniles, and at a somewhat later date per- 
haps. Havoc, the horse in dispute. I could, if I were not "to 
inquire too curiously," give you also the names of sundry 
mares, fillies and colts then assembled there. 

I remember Havoc very distinctlj% more so than if I had 
seen him last year, rie was not a bay, but a chestnut (or 
"sorrel" as the color was then called), nor was he as dark 
or dull colored as Wagner was, but a bright yellowish sorrel. 
As to size, he was of the medium size and shape of thorough- 
breds. I think about of such proportions as Sir Archy or Sir 
Charles may have been, guessing by their pictures in the 
Turf Register. 

There never was any large bay horse called Havoc owned 
by Peter Funk. Be assured of this fact. On this point I 
must stand up for my own superiority "of opportunities" to 
your other "Beargrass boys." Major Funk's race course was 
entirely out of their beat. The Speed boys were good, and 
did not habituate such places. And although Ned Pearce and 
John Gray (like the writer) were certainly "fast" enough for 
any deviltry of that sort, yet I have no idea that either of 
them ever saw Stockholder, or Havoc (any Havoc) in their 
lives. What then could either of them know of his size or 
color? 



217 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

He was reputed to be by Sir Charles. As I have almost 
ever since kept my knowledge of pedigrees refreshed by 
reading in The American Turf Register, etc., I am now unable 
to say whether any part of his remaining pedigree (by Sir 
Alfred Virgo, by imported Teazle, Castianira, etc.), to be a 
matter of memory, derived from the reputation of the neigh- 
borhood, or from subsequent studies. But I think the reputed 
pedigree then was Havoc, by Sir Charles; dam, by Sir Alfred. 
I am quite sure, though, it was by Havoc, by Sir Charles. 
Remembering now that I never in my life heard one word in 
disparagement of the integrity or honor of Major Funk 
(unless the deplorings of the "unco righteous" of this race 
horse business may be construed into such impeachment), do 
you not see in what a light your present proposition must 
appear? 

We are required to believe that such a man would bring 
from "a trip to Philadelphia" a farm horse of unknown breed- 
ing, "a large bay horse, ' and palm him off as a thoroughbred 
"Havoc, by Sir Charles, Sir Alfred," and in a county, too, in 
which the forged pedigree (if believed) would not have added 
one cent to his custom. If, therefore, Mr. Pope did send 
Nancy Taylor to Mr. Funk's Havoc (as witnesses affirm) he 
must certainly have sent her to the chestnut horse Havoc, by 
Sir Charles, — Sir Alfred. Nor will it be pretended that, at 
that time, when no portion of this interest (which now lies 
in the pedigree of Pilot, Jr.) had attached to this simple 
transaction, any of these neighbors' boys were likely to have 
known any facts to outweigh these truths and probabilities. 

Of the actual breeding of Nancy Pope (the pedigree In 
question), I know nothing. All I do know or surmise of its 
connection is as follows: My eldest living brother, Larz 
Anderson, then, through my father's death, "in loco parentis," 
to me, in June, 1828, married Miss Anne Pope, the only 
daughter of Mr. Wm. Pope, who owned these mares. Some 
time previously I Had become intimate with his boys, though 
I had known the family all my life. The family had been 
close friends since the period when Louisville was St. Nelson. 
And, from the time of that marriage, as long as his family 



218 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PAGERS. 

occupied the farm, I was as much "at home" there as one 
of his own children almost. 

Now at the period of the wedding (certainly a marked oc- 
casion and date to me), I well remember a grey filly there, 
out of Nancy Taylor. She was two or three years old. She was 
a dark but bluish grey. 1 doubt if I am as good a judge of 
a horse as my friend and kinsman, Edmund Pearce. Still, 
although I remember her as larger than her dam, I could 
never consider her as "coarse" in the sense of a likeness 
to "large farm horses" nor as being out of the proportions of 
thoroughbreds. I certainly did not and do not suppose her 
to have been thoroughbred. (In your advertisement of Al- 
mont she is "safd to be strictly thoroughbred"). I only mean 
to say that I have seen a great many true thoroughbreds, es- 
pecially in England, which were both larger and coarser than 
this grey filly of 1828. 

But, "Mr. Pearce is positive in his assertion that about 1831 
Mr. Pope bred Nancy Taylor to a farm stallion, and the 
produce was a filly larger and coarser than her dam, that 
afterwards was called Nancy Pope, and became the dam of 
Pilot, Jr." Now, if there be no mistake here, the question is 
settled without appeal. But is there no mistake? I repeat 
that I am sure Mr. Pope had a grey filly out of Nancy Taylor 
in 1828, which he presented to my brother Larz, and that he 
sent her for awhile to pasture at Soldier's Retreat, where 
I was living (the only son) with my mother. And, further- 
more, I cannot recollect any other grey filly out of Nancy 
Taylor or any other dam on that place, until it was rented out 
to Judge Mclnley of Alabama, and Mr. Pope moved to Louis- 
ville. Does anyone remember a second? What does Mr. 
Robert Pope, the only remaining son of Mr. Pope (and of 
1814, too), remember of there being two grey fillies? or Mr. 
Speed, Pearce or Gray (who, by the way, was as often on the 
farm as E. Pearce)? 

My own recollection is, of course, not conclusive. But, I 
submit, is it not of a nature as weighty as Mr. Pearce's recol- 
lection of the date X1831) when a neighbor sent a mare to a 
common stallion, an event which did not contain the slightest 



219 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

import or interest for almost a quarter of a century? The 
case of Attorney-General Speed is an example of the native 
unreliability of such testimony. He "recollected" the year 
1824-5 as the time when "Mr. Pope presented Nancy Taylor 
to his father." It turns out to have been in 1833, nine years 
later. (I have reasons to doubt whether it was not still a 
year later, 1834). 

Now, this affair of the ownership of a pet mare, by Judge 
Speed, must have been one of far more interest to one of his 
sons than that of the time when a neighbor sent a mare to a 
common farm horse could possibly be to the other. And yet 
the attorney-general of the United States (and, let me add, 
one of the ablest lavsryers and best men in the State) forgets 
the date of that transaction by a gap oi nine or ten years. 
I insist, then, that it is not only no impeachment of Mr. 
Pearce, not the least, to express a doubt of his date, but that 
his recollection (if there were no counter memories) is per 
se of very slight historic weight. 

So as the testimony stands then (counting in it, of course, 
my own recollection) I must believe that after 1828 Nancy 
Taylor had no grey filly; that this filly must certainly have 
been begotten by a horse standing some four miles off, be- 
tween 1824 and 1828; that Major Funk, then and there, kept 
a stallion. Havoc by name, a chestnut in color, and claimed 
and reputed to be by Sir Charles — Sir Alfred — and that Mr. 
Funk neither had nor stood any large bay or other farm 
horse, until long after these dates, when, abandoning his 
thoroughbred mania, he did buy and stand such a horse, 
named, I think, Pennsylvania Farmer. 

All this, sir, may not prove that Pilot, Jr.'s grandsire was 
Sir Charles. Indeed, it does not prove it, but it surely 
diminishes the probabilities of the contrary supposition to a 
very attenuated quantity. And, If the question must be re- 
duced to a single point between that pedigree on the one 
hand and the allegations of Nancy Pope's sire being a "large, 
bay horse" or a "common farm horse, called Havoc" or any 
other sort of a horse than that claimed by Peter Funk, on 

220 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

the other hand; then, indeed, in my judgment, it is a certainty 
that the former pedigree is established. 

There is no doubt that this grey filly that was 
presented by her breeder, Mr. Pope, to Larz Anderson 
in 1828, and was then two or three years old, was 
afterwards known as Nancy Pope, and was the dam 
of Pilot, Jr. The latter is registered in the Breeders' 
Trotting Stud Book, published in 1881, and his pedigree 
which is there given as follows is undoubtedly correct : 
"Pilot, Jr., gr. h, foaled 1844, bred by Lugerean Gray, 
and foaled the property of John T. Gray, Gray- 
bolt, Jefferson Co., Ky., got by old pacing Pilot, 
a horse of unknown blood that, it is said, was brought 
from Canada; dam Nancy Pope by Havoc, son of Sir 
Charles (Havoc's dam by Chanticleer; 2nd dam 
Camilla by Symme's Wildair, etc.) ; 2nd dam Nancy 
Taylor by Craig's Alfred, son of imported Medley. 
Sold when four years old to D. Heinsohn, Louisville, 
Ky., and soon afterward to R. A. Alexander, Spring 
Station, Ky. Died April 14, 1865, at Montgomery, 
Kane Co., 111., where he had been sent by Mr. Alexander 
along with nearly all his valuable trotting stock, to 
escape danger from guerrillas." 

There is no doubt that had Mr. Anderson been called 
as a witness in the case and his statements been sub- 
mitted to the Board of Censors, along with those of 
Mr. Pearce, that the dam of Pilot, Jr., would now 
appear in the American Trotting Register as Nancy 
Pope by Funk's Havoc, a son of Sir Charles, the same 
as given in the Breeders' Trotting Stud Book, a work 
in which Mr. A. J. Alexander, the proprietor of Wood- 
burn Farm, and Mr. Lucas Brodhead, the superintend- 

221 



TEE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

ent of that establishment, were somewhat interested. 
They were both on the committee on rules for registra- 
tion by which that register was governed. 

Pilot, Jr., was the most successful stallion of his day 
as a sire of fast trotters. No other stallion that was 
foaled so early as 1844, sired so many that trotted 
to records of 2.30 or better as he. The number of his 
get that made records of 2.30 or better was eight, and 
all of them were trotters. The fastest of these was 
John Morgan (also known as Medoc) (2.24), whose 
dam. Croppy, was a thoroughbred daughter of Medoc 
by American Eclipse, and whose second dam was by 
Thornton's Rattler, son of Sir Archy. John Morgan 
could probably show as much speed as any trotter of 
his day. Geo. P. Floyd, who raced him for a time, once 
made a wager that John Morgan could trot a quarter 
on Mystic Park track in 30 seconds or better, and won 
the bet. This horse had enough speed and endurance 
when in his prime to beat any trotter then on the turf. 
He was also a game trotter, but was such a fearful 
puller that he wasted a large amount of energy that 
way. 

Bayard (2.313-4). Pilot, Jr. is credited with six 
sons that sired twenty-six trotters and eight pacers, 
which made records in standard time. His most suc- 
cessful son, as a sire of standard performers, was 
Bayard (2,313-4), that got nine trotters and six 
pacers which made standard records. The fastest of 
Bayard's get is Kitty Bayard (2.121-4). The dam of 
Bayard was by Adam's American, a son of White- 
hall, and Whitehall was by North American, the son 
of the thoroughbred Sir W^alter, that got the dam of 



222 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

Strathmore. Bayard's second dam was by Vermont 
Black Hawk, and his third dam by Hammond's Mag- 
num Bonum, a son of imported Magnum Bonum. 
Bayard is credited with thirteen sons that got nine 
trotters and ten pacers which made standard records. 
None of the direct descendants of Bayard in the male 
line that we can recall are now perpetuating standard 
speed. 

Tattler (2.26). The most successful son of Pilot, 
Jr., as a perpetuator of standard speed, was Tattler 
(2.26). The dam of Tattler was Telltale, a thorough- 
bred daughter of Telamon, by Medoc, son of American 
Eclipse; second dam Flea, by Medoc; third dam 
Martha Darneal, by Sumpter, son of Sir Archy, and 
fourth dam Arminda, by Doublehead, a son of imported 
Diomed. One of the sons of Tattler was Rumor (2.20), 
that got Edgardo (2.13 3-4), the sire of Tomah (2.10). 
Another son of Tattler that is still perpetuating speed 
in the male line was Voltaire (2.20 1-4), the sire of 
Bessemer (2.13 3-4). The dam of Bessemer was by 
Concord, a thoroughbred son of the renowned Lexing- 
ton. Bessemer is the sire of Be Sure (2.06 3-4), that is 
now credited with eight pacers that have made records 
in standard time. 

Daughters of Pilot Jr. The daughters of Pilot 
Jr. were more successful in transmitting a high rate 
of speed than his sons. The first trotter that ever 
took so fast a record as 2.10 was Jay-Eye-See, and his 
dam was by Pilot Jr. The first trotter to beat 2.10 was 
Maud S., and she finally trotted to a record of 2.08 3-4, 
hitched to a high wheel, plain axle sulky and over a 
regulation track. The dam of Maud S. was also by 



223 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Pilot Jr. The number of standard performers pro- 
duced by daughters of Pilot Jr. is forty, and thirty- 
seven of them were trotters. The most noted of his 
daughters as producers were Miss Russell, Midnight 
and Waterwitch. Miss Russell is credited with seven 
in the list, and among them are Maud S. (2.08 3-4), 
Slavonic (2.09 3-4), and Nutwood (2.18 3-4). Miss 
Russell was also the dam of Lord Russell, the most 
successful son of Harold as a sire. He was a full 
brother of Maud S. (2.08 3-4), and among his get was 
the world's champion five-year-old trotter of his day, 
Kremlin (2.07 3-4). 

Nutwood (2.18 3-4). Nutwood (2.18 3-4) was one 
of the most successful sires and perpetuators of 
standard speed that has ever lived. He is credited 
with one hundred and thirty-four trotters and thirty- 
five pacers, a total of one hundred and sixty-nine that 
have made standard records; with one hundred and 
forty-one sons that had sired a total of four hundred 
and eighty trotters and three hundred and fifty-five 
pacers that had made standard records up to the close 
of 1903, and also with one hundred and thirty-one 
daughters that had up to that time produced one 
hundred and sixty-nine trotters and fifty-three pacers, 
a total of two hundred and twenty-two that had made 
records in standard time. No other stallion that has 
ever lived can begin to compare with Nutwood 
(2.18 3-4) as a brood mare sire. The dam of Miss 
Russell was Sally Russell, and she was a thoroughbred 
daughter of the famous long distance race winner Bos- 
ton, the most successful race horse of his day on the 
running turf. 



224 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PAGERS. 

Midnight. Midnight, by Pilot, Jr., produced three 
with trotting records from 2.10 to 2.20 1-2, and one 
of them, Jay-Eye-See (2.10), is also credited with a 
pacing record of 2.06 1-4. Two of Midnight's sons, 
viz., Beaumont and Electricity (2.17 3-4), are proving 
quite successful as sires of speed. Among the get of 
the latter is the trotter Surpol (2.10). The dam of 
Midnight was Twilight, a thoroughbred daughter of 
the great four-mile world's record breaker Lexington. 
The latter was the most famous son of Boston, sire of 
the dam of Miss Russell. The second dam of Midnight 
was Daylight by imported Glencoe; third dam Dark- 
ness by Wagner, the most noted four-mile race winner 
of his day; fourth dam Lady Gray, by Sir Richard 
Tonson; and fifth dam Lucy Clark, by Oscar, a son 
of Roanoke, by Sir Archy. 

Waterwitch. Waterwitch, by Pilot Jr., is the dam 
of six trotters with records of 2.30 or better, including 
Viking (2.191-4). Five of the sons of Waterwitch 
have sired 2.30 speed, and six of her daughters have 
produced sixteen trotters and four pacers that have 
made standard records. The dam of Waterwitch was 
by Kinkead's St. Lawrence, a son of the old trotter 
St. Lawrence, that originated in Canada. The second 
dam of Waterwitch was Brenda. She was by a thor- 
oughbred colt, which, as stated in Volume 3 of 
Wallace's American Trotting Register, was believed 
to be Oliver, whose sire was the famous old four-mile 
racer Wagner, by Sir Charles, son of Sir Archy. 
The dam of Oliver was Flight, by imported Leviathan ; 
second dam Charlotte Hamilton, by Sir Charles, son 
of Sir Archy ; third dam. Lady-of-the-Lake, by imported 



225 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Sir Harry; fourth dam by imported Diomed, 
and fifth dam by imported St. George. Daugh- 
ters of Waterwitch have proved more successful 
as producers than the daughters of any other of the 
great brood mares. Six of them have produced twenty 
that have made records in standard time, and sixteen 
of the twenty are trotters. Her daughter Sprite, by 
Belmont, son of Alexander's Abdallah, is the dam of 
four trotters with standard records. Three of the four 
are the stallions Sphinx (2.201-2), Egotist (2.221-2) 
and Electrite (2.28 1-2). All three are by Electioneer. 
Sphinx and Electrite are proving the most successful 
sons of Electioneer of their ages as sires of uniform 
standard speed. 

Tackey. Tackey (2.26), the fastest daughter of 
Pilot, Jr., by the records, was mated with Happy 
Medium, by Rysdyk's Hambletonian, and the result 
was the very successful trotting sire Pilot Medium. 
The latter met with an accident when young and was 
never trained. He is credited with ninety-nine trotters 
and twenty -three pacers that have made standard 
records, fifteen of which are in the 2.15 list, including 
Peter the Great (2.071-4), Pilot Boy (2.091-4), Wau- 
bun (2.091-4), B. B. P. (4) (2.09 3-4) and Pilot Me- 
dium, Jr. (2.09 3-4). The vast superiority of Pilot 
Medium over all other sons of Happy Medium is appar- 
ent from the fact that the latter is credited with sixty- 
six producing sons which had sired in all, to the close 
of 1903, two hundred and sixty-four trotters and one 
hundred and twenty-seven pacers with standard 
records. Deducting from this number the ninety-nine 
trotters and twenty-three pacers got by Pilot Medium 



226 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

it leaves one hundred and sixty-five trotters and one 
hundred and four pacers to the credit of the other 
sixty-five sons of Happy Medium. The dam of Tackey 
(2.26) was Jenny Lind, by imported Bellfounder, the 
Norfolk trotter that got the dam of Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian. Beyond that, the breeding of Tackey was 
unknown. The Pilot Jr. strain is undoubtedly the 
most valuable of all pacing crosses in a trotting 
pedigree, especially when coming through either of 
the mares named above, particularly Miss Russell. 

Wilson's Blue Bull. The most important of all 
the trotting families that sprang from pacers is that 
known as Blue Bull. The history of Blue Bull, the 
founder of this family, reads more like a romance than 
reality. No parallel to it can be found among all the 
trotting sires. It has been stated, upon apparently 
good authority, that Wilson's Blue Bull began his stud 
career in the humble capacity of teaser for a jack. 
During the time he was so employed a few mares which 
were not considered suitable to raise mules were bred 
to him at a fee of |5, and it was through the produce 
of such mares that his merits as a trotting sire were 
first brought to notice. 

According to the American Trotting Register, Wil- 
son's Blue Bull was bred by Elijah Stone of Indiana, 
and foaled in 1844. His sire was Pruden's Blue Bull, 
a horse that never produced any other animal of special 
note. A physician of Dillsboro, Ind., who was some- 
thing of a horseman and knew Pruden's Blue Bull well, 
gave the following description of him through the 
Western Sportsman some years ago, under the nom de 
plume "Phipp." The doctor paced a Tom Hal mare 



227 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

against Wilson's Blue Bull in 1859, and got beaten. 
This doctor says: 

He was also known as Old Sam, and is recorded 
in the American Trotting Register as Pruden's Blue 
Bull. He is described by the doctor in the article 
above mentioned as a dun-colored animal, sixteen and 
one-half hands high, two white stockings behind and 
one forward, the other leg being zebra marked. He 
was blind in one eye, had a white face, black mane 
and tail, a black stripe down the back, and weighed 
about twelve hundred pounds. 

The doctor further says: 

His appearance was fBe most peculiar I ever saw. From 
a side view one would judge him to be a draught horse, but 
a front or rear view would dispel the illusion. His hind legs 
were sickle shaped, front knees sprung backwards, legs wide 
and thin, very short from knees down, great length of arms, 
with muscles long and massive, hips extending so far forward 
and shoulders so far backward that there was not length 
enough of back for an ordinary riding saddle to be properly 
adjusted. He seemed to be made of hips and shoulders, but 
had a good length of belly. His only gait was a pace. I have 
often seen him pace with a running horse beside him, and 
for a few hundred yards he would almost come out ahead. 

He was bought of Mrs. Morgan of Butler County, Ohio (she 
lived on the dry fork of White Water) by a Mr. Little, and 
sold to the Hon. Chester R. Faulkner of Ripley County, Ind.. 
and groomed by James D. English in 1851-2-3. In the fall of 
1853 Faulkner sold him to a Mr. Griff en of Ohio County, and 
about this time he got Wilson's Blue Bull. In the fall of 1850, 
Oliver S. Muiford of this place attended the sale of Mrs. 
Morgan, and bought Tiger, a full brother of Pruden's Blue 
Bull, and two years younger. The pedigree given was: Sired 
by Old Tom, the old Blue Bull of Butler County, Ohio, be 
by Chester Ball of Pennsylvania, he by a Canadian pacer; 
dam by Cadmus. 



228 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

This, the doctor tells us in a private letter, was the 
pedigree given Mr. Mulford at the time of purchase. 
Some few years later the pacer Pocahontas (2.17 1-2) 
created a great sensation by her wonderful speed. As 
she was by a horse called Cadmus, and was raised in 
the vicinity where Pruden's Blue Bull and Tiger were 
produced, Mr. Mulford got the impression that the dam 
of these horses was by the sire of Pocahontas, and 
so stated. This statement was published in the 
Western Sportsman. Mr. Mulford must have been 
mistaken, however, for in 1838 Cadmus, by American 
Eclipse, dam, Di Vernon, by Florizel, son of imported 
Diomed, was taken to Lebanon, Warren Co., O., where 
he remained a few seasons. In 1839 he was bred to a 
daughter of Brunswick, by Sumpter, a son of Sir 
Archy, and the result was Iron's Cadmus, foaled in 
1840. The latter got Pocahontas, but the Cadmus 
which sired Iron's Cadmus must have been the horse 
referred to in the pedigree, for Pruden's Blue Bull, 
according to the Trotting Register, was foaled in 1844 ; 
hence his dam was probably foaled as early as 1840. 
The oldest of Iron's Cadmus' get could not have been 
foaled earlier than 1843. 

Old Sam, or Pruden's Blue Bull, as he is now known, was 
by Mening's Blue Bull, which was described as follows by- 
Mr. J. G. Vaughn of Odin, 111., in Coleman's Rural World a 
few years since, who states that the dates are given from 
memory, and may be slightly incorrect, but the facts can be 
substantiated. 

This horse, Merring's Blue Bull, was brought from Penn- 
sylvania, says Mr. Vaughn, by Henry Snively, to Wayne 
Township, Butler County, O., and sold to John Merring of Mor- 
gan Township (same county) about the year 1826. Mr. Mer- 
ring kept him about eight years, and always advertised him as 



229 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

"The Ohio Farmer." He was then sold to some parties in 
Dearborn County, Ind., where he remained some twelve to 
fifteen years. Between 1845 and 1850 the old horse was 
brought back to Ohio, and kept by Henry Grisley at New 
Baltimore, in Hamilton County, a few miles south of Mer- 
ring's old place, and here he died, reputed to be considerably 
over 30 years of age. 

John Wright, a noted auctioneer and facetious wag, who 
lived within a half-mile ot Merring, nicknamed the horse "The 
Blue Bull" on account of his very peculiar color, build and 
general appearance, and this name, first applied in derision, 
seemed so appropriate that it shortly became the generally 
recognized name of the stock. 

The horse was a deep mouse color, generally called blue, 
blaze face, glass eyes, heavy black mane and tail, black stripe 
down his back, legs whfte to the knees, and from there up 
had yellow stripes around them. He was a powerfully built, 
heavy-bodied, close-ribbed horse, with an enormous beefy 
neck, a natural pacer and clumsy in his gait. And these 
characteristics were inherited by many of his descendants. 
The majority, I think, were either mouse color or a very 
peculiar yellow bay, and striped like the old horse. 

Many of them were natural pacers, and but few proved 
to be good riding horses, on account of their clumsy and 
stumbling gait. THey were, however, a strong, tough, hardy 
race of horses, and served admirably for heavy teaming In 
this hilly country, before the days of turnpikes and railroads, 
but they have now given place to a more stylish class of 
horses. 

During the life of the "Old Blue Bull," I never heard of 
any of his stock having much speed or activity, except an 
occasional colt from a warmer-blooded mare, but this was the 
exception and not the general rule. If exceptional speed has 
since been developed in his more remote descendants, it has 
probably been derived from some other source. , 

It is evident that whatever characteristics the sire of 
Wilson's Blue Bull may have inherited from th/e above 
animal, his speed must have come from his dam, or some 

280 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

source other than this strong but clumsy, awkward, 
pacing cart horse. Although nothing is found in any 
standard work, or any other that we have yet seen, giv- 
ing any account of the dam of this Cadmus Mare, the 
section of country in which the latter originated ren- 
ders it probable that her dam may have been from good 
ancestry. Tiger, full brother to Wilson's Blue Bull, 
was quite fast for his time, it is said, both at trotting 
and pacing. 

The dam of Wilson's Blue Bull, as described by her 
breeder, Mr. Elijah Stone, was a sorrel chestnut, about 
fifteen hands one inch, with good trotting action and 
considerable speed. In a letter published in Wallace's 
Monthly Mr. Stone states that "she was by Young 
Selim, a Truxton horse of great power. At one time 
she was ridden eighty-seven miles in eleven hours, and 
carried a man weighing one hundred and eighty 
pounds." Young Selim, according to Mr. Stone, was 
a black horse standing about sixteen and one-half 
hands, but the old Truxton from which he descended 
was a beautiful bay of considerable speed and a natural 
trotter. 

The Trotting Register does not give any clue to the 
origin of this "Truxton horse of great power," which 
was undoubtedly the most potent speed factor in the 
pedigree of Wilson's Blue Bull. The most noted 
family of Truxton's, however, was founded by General 
Jackson's famous thoroughbred race horse of that 
name, which is described at considerable length in Vol. 
IV. of Wallace's Monthly, from which we quote the 
following : 

231 



THFj AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Of all the horses that won distinction under his (General 
Jackson's) management, Truxton stood unrivalled in the 
affections of a devoted master. Alexander the Great was not 
more attached to his beautiful Bucephalus than General Jack- 
son was to the great Truxton. After Truxton had performed 
prodigies for him upon the turf, he retired to his harem at the 
Hermitage, where he was well cared for. From him de- 
scended some of the best horses ever known upon the Ameri- 
can turf. He sustained, perfectly unimpaired with the public, 
the generous opinion entertained of him by his more than 
partial owner. A writer of the period says: "Every drop 
of his blood is to be prized, wherever it is to be found." As 
a curiosity in horse literature, we insert the following as 
General Jackson's opinion of his favorite. It was written 
after Truxton had retired from the turf: 

"Truxton is a beautiful bay, full of bone and muscle, was 
got by the imported horse. Old Diomed, and came out of the 
thoroughbred mare Nancy Coleman, the propertj' of Major 
John Verrell of Virginia. Truxton, however, is too well 
known to require minute description. His performances on 
the turf have surpassed those of any horse of his age that has 
ever been run in the Western country, and, indeed, it may be 
said with confidence that he is equal if not superior to Mr. 
Ball's Florizel, who was got by the same Diomed, and who 
now stands unrivalled in Virginia as a race horse. Truxton, 
by old sportsmen and judges, is admitted to be amongst the 
best distance horses that ever ran or had to train. 

"His speed is certainly unknown to all those who have run 
against him. He has, on the most unequal terms, started 
against the very best mile horses in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, and beaten them with great ease, and in no one in- 
stance has ever run with any horse, when he himself was in 
order, but he either could or did distance him with ease. 
Although four-mile heats is the real and true distance for 
Truxton to rim, he has beaten Mr, Gordon's fine mile horse, 
Jact of Clubs, and Mr. Cotton's Greyhound, both aged horses, 
with equal weights of TOO pounds on each, mile heats. 



232 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

"And lastly, to crown the much doubted speed of Truxton 
with his opponents, he beat, on only two sound legs, on April 
3, 1806, over the Clover Bottom course, the celebrated horse 
Plow Boy, who was never before beaten, and beating him 
without the assistance of whip or spur. It is now no longer 
for the numerous concourse of people who were present on 
that day to say whether or not Truxton be the true bred 
racer. Truxton's winnings, from time to time, from the 
most correct information, amount to at least $20,000, and his 
colts are not inferior to any on the continent. 

"(Signed) ANDREW JACKSON." 

As Young 8elim, which got the dam of Blue Bull, 
was a "Truxton horse of great power," it was not 
surprising that Wilson's Blue Bull was fast and sired 
speed in spite of the lack of speed displayed by any of 
his ancestors, so far as known in the paternal lines. 
It is more than probable that he inherited his speed 
ability from his own dam and from the Cadmus mare 
that was the dam of his sire. 

The second dam of Blue Bull is described by Mr. 
Stone as a bright bay, nearly fifteen hands, and a 
trotter. The dam of Blue Bull was said at one time 
to have been by Blacknose, a thoroughbred son of 
Medoc, by American Eclipse, but according to Mr. 
Stone's statement that must be incorrect, unless Young 
Selim and Blacknose are two names for the same 
animal, which is not probable. The high form and 
blood-like quality shown by many of Blue Bull's get are 
sure indications that the coarse characteristics in- 
herited from his paternal ancestors were overcome by 
royal blood from some source. The facts given above 
undoubtedly point with great certainty to the real 
source from which they were inherited. 



233 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

In 1857, when three years old, Wilson's Blue Bull 
was sold by his breeder, Mr. Elijah Stone, to Mr. Daniel 
Dorrell. In 1865 Mr. Dorrell sold him to Mr. James 
Wilson of Rushville, Ind., for |300, on condition that 
he should show a mile in 2.45, a feat which he easily 
accomplished, with something to spare. It is stated 
upon good authority that the reason for keeping him 
entire was on account of being what is improperly 
termed a ridgling. Only one of his testicles ever 
descended to his scrotum. After passing to the owner- 
ship of Mr. Wilson he lost an eye, and also got one 
knee broken from a kick. He was then thought of so 
little value that he was assigned the menial position of 
teaser to a jack, and his services were offered to such as 
cared for them at five dollars to warrant. 

At this time he is described as a sleek-coated, dark 
chestnut, standing about fifteen hands two inches, with 
a fine muzzle, heavy jowls, good countenance, mild, in- 
telligent eye, long and well-arched neck, light, silky 
mane and well proportioned body and limbs. He was 
remarkably fast for a short distance. Even after 
being crippled it is claimed that he showed a half- 
mile to saddle in 1.05, and to wagon in 1.07. The 
stud career of this wonderful horse extended from 
1865 to 1879. He got a few foals prior to 1865, how- 
ever, but during the last three years of his life was 
limited to very few patrons. His death occurred July 
11, 1880, from disease contracted in the performance 
of stud duties. He is registered as Blue Bull 75. 

Twenty years ago this fall, Wilson's Blue Bull was 
the leading sire of 2.30 performers. He was then 
credited with thirty-eight trotters that had made 



234 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

records from 2.19 1-2 to 2.30, and three pacers with 
records from 2.221-2 to 2.241-2. Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian was then credited with thirty-eight trotters 
that had made records of 2.30 or better to harness, and 
another with a record of 2.33 1-2, to wagon ; and George 
Wilkes was then credited with thirty-four trotters and 
one pacer that had made standard records. At the 
close of the season of 1885, Blue Bull's list of standard 
performers included forty-seven trotters and three 
pacers. George Wilkes (2.22) was next in rank with 
forty-one trotters and three pacers. At the close of 
the season of 1886, Blue Bull was still in the lead, with 
forty-nine trotters and three pacers to his credit that 
had taken standard records, making Blue Bull and 
George Wilkes just equal as to numbers of performers, 
but giving Blue Bull one more trotter than George 
Wilkes. The following year, however, George Wilkes 
took the lead and Blue Bull never afterward re- 
gained it. 

The number of the get of Wilson's Blue Bull that 
made records in standard time is sixty, and fifty-six 
of them were trotters. The fastest trotter of his get 
was Zoe B. (2.17 1-4) and his fastest pacer was 
Georgetown (2.161-2). He is credited with forty- 
eight sons that to the close of 1903 had sired fifty-six 
trotters and eighty-one pacers with standard records. 
The most successful of these is Jim Wilson, whose 
list of standard record-makers includes sixteen trotters 
and sixteen pacers. The fastest of them is Wiltranhy 
(2.06 3-4). Up to the close of last season the names 
of only five sons of Jim Wilson appeared in the Great 
Table of sires of standard performers, and the number 



235 



THE AMERICA:^ TROTTER. 

of the get of these five that were credited with 
standard records was eight, three of which were 
trotters. No son of either of these five stallions was 
credited with a standard performer, which indicates 
that this family will soon cease perpetuating in the 
male line. 

Daughters of Wilson's Blue Bull were much more 
successful in perpetuating speed than his sons. The 
Year Book for 1903 credits him with one hundred and 
eleven daughters that have produced eighty-three 
trotters and eighty-seven pacers which have made 
standard records, a total of one hundred and seventy. 
The fastest performer produced by a daughter of Blue 
Bull is Roy Wilkes (2.061-2). 

It would seem from the best information obtainable 
that the breeding of Pilot Jr. and Wilson's Blue Bull 
was very similar. Both were by pacing stallions and 
the dams of both appear to have been from running 
stock. Other stallions bred in similar lines, viz., by 
uniting a pacing animal with one from running stock, 
have also gained some distinction as perpetuators of 
trotting speed. Another instance of success from such 
breeding was North American, also called the Bullock 
Horse, whose sire was the thoroughbred Sir Walter. 
The latter was by Whip and his dam was Nettletop, by 
imported Diomed. The dam of North American was 
of unknown breeding, but she was a fast pacer. 

Whitehall. The only son of North American that 
gained distinction as a perpetuator of trotting speed 
was Whitehall. This horse is registered in the 
Breeder's Trotting Stud Book, and his dam is given 
as by Cock of The Kock, a son of Duroc. The dam of 

236 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

this Cock of The Rock was Romp, by imported 
Messenger. Romp was a full sister of Miller's Damsel, 
the dam of American Eclipse. Whitehall got one 
trotter that took a standard record, viz., Rhode Island 
(2.231-2). 

Rhode Island. "The Breeders' Trotting Stud Book" 
gives the breeding of Rhode Island as follows : "Sire 
Whitehall; dam by Nigger Baby; second dam bred in 
New Jersey, breeding unknown." Rhode Island was 
bred near Portsmouth, Ohio. Nigger Baby was bred 
in Ohio and did stud service in that state. He had 
the reputation of being a very fast runner for quarter 
and half miles dashes. His sire was known as Tiger 
Whip. His dam was by Paragon and his second dam 
an Arabian. Wallace gave the dam of Rhode Island 
as by Davy Crockett, a Canadian pacer that was taken 
to Kentucky and did stud service there, but we are 
inclined to believe that the Breeders' Trotting Stud 
Book is correct, and Mr. Wallace in error. Whitehall 
is credited with three sons that sired 2.30 trotters. 
They were Adam's American, sire of Nelly Holcomb 
(2.28), Buck, sire of Brown Joe (2.29 1-2), and Rhode 
Island, sire of three, viz., Gov. Sprague (2.20 1-2), Jim 
Schriber (2.211-2) and Wilmar (2.291-4). 

Gov. Sprague (2.201-2). Gov. Sprague (2.201-2) 
was a remarkable horse. As a five-year-old in 1876 
he was the world's champion trotter of that age, with 
a record of 2.20 1-2. Gov. Sprague was sold that 
season to the successful horseman, the late J. I. Case 
of Racine, Wis., for |27,500 He was foaled in 1871 
and died May 5, 1883. He was not only the fastest 
trotter got by Rhode Island, but was also by far the 

237 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

most successful son of Rhode Island as a sire and 
perpetuator of speed. During his short stud career 
Gov. Sprague got thirty-six trotters and two pacers 
that made records in standard time. He is credited 
with twenty-four sons that have sired seventy trotters 
and twenty-seven pacers which have made standard 
records, and thirty-nine of his daughters have produced 
forty-four trotters and thirteen pacers that have made 
records in standard time. The fastest trotter produced 
by a daughter of Gov. Sprague is the renowned 
McKinney (2.111-4), by Alcyone (2.27), that was 
lately sold for |50,000, McKinney outranks every 
other stallion of his age that has ever lived, as a sire 
of uniform extreme trotting speed. 

The success of Gov. Sprague (2.201-2) as a trotter, 
and also as a perpetuator of trotting speed, is doubtless 
largely due to the fact that his dam was the great 
brood mare Belle Brandon, that also produced Amy 
(2.201-4), etc., Belle Brandon was by Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian. Her dam Jenny was by Young 
Bacchus, a son of the running bred Cone's Bacchus, 
whose sire was Bacchus by Sir Archy. The second 
dam of Belle Brandon was the Worden Mare, by Exton 
Eclipse, a running bred son of the famous American 
Eclipse. 

Blanco. The stallion Blanco, sire of the renowned 
Smuggler (2,151-4), is another instance of mating a 
pacing mare with a stallion bred from race-winning 
running stock. Blanco was by Iron's Cadmus, a horse 
registered in Bruce's American Stud Book where his 
sire is given as Cadmus, a thoroughbred son of 
American Eclipse, and his dam by Brunswick, a son 

238 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PAGERS. 

of Sumpter, by Sir Archy ; second dam by Blackburn's 
Whip, a thoroughbred son of imported Whip. The 
Cadmus that got Iron's Cadmus has sometimes been 
called Beach's Cadmus. His sire was the renowned 
American Eclipse, by Duroc, son of imported Diomed 
and from Miller's Damsel by imported Messenger. The 
dam of Cadmus was Die Vernon, by Ball's Florizel, 
a son of imported Diomed. 

Col. S. D. Bruce, author of Bruce's American Stud 
Book, the standard thoroughbred register of America, 
stated in the "Horse Breeders' Guide and Stud Book," 
a work published in 1883, that as a race horse Ball's 
Florizel had no equal in his day. He never lost a heat 
or paid a forfeit, never knew the touch of a spur or 
heard the flourish of a whip. Ball's Florizel got the 
dam of the distinguished race horse Boston. 

The dam of Blanco, sire of Smuggler, was by Irwin's 
Tuckahoe, a horse bred from thoroughbred and pacing 
ancestors. Smuggler lowered the world's champion 
record for trotting stallions to 2.15 1-4 in 1876, and it 
remained there until 1884. Smuggler (2.15 1-4) waa 
the sire of ten trotters and two pacers that made 
records in standard time. He is credited with twelve 
sons that have sired fourteen trotters and ten pacers 
with standard records. Smuggler's daughters were 
more successful than his sons as perpetuators of speed, 
as twenty-four of them have produced twenty-four 
trotters and eight pacers with standard records, the 
fastest of which are the pacer Be Sure (2.06 3-4) and 
the trotter Miss Whitney (2.071-2). None of the 
direct descendants of Smuggler in the male line that 
we can now recall is i)erpetuating standard speed. 

239 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Tom Rolfe (2.331-2). Another stallion, whose 
ancestors included thoroughbreds and pacers, that 
founded a trotting family, was Tom Rolfe (2.331-2). 
His sire was Pugh's Aratus, a son of Phare's Aratus, 
and he by Aratus, a thoroughbred son of Director by 
Sir Archy. The dam of Tojn Rolfe was the famous 
pacer Pocahontas, that lowered the world's champion 
record for pacers to 2.17 1-2, in a race in 1855, and 
pulled a wagon at that. Pocahontas was by Iron's 
Oadmus, the sire of Blanco mentioned above. Her 
dam was by Probasco's Big Shakespeare, he by 
Stoughtenborough's Shakespeare, a running bred son 
of Valerius by imported Badger. Pocahontas' second 
dam was by James Badger, also known as Probasco's 
Badger. He was another son of Valerius by imported 
Badger, making the dam of Pocahontas closely inbred 
to Valerius, a running bred son of imported Badger. 
It will be seen from this that the famous mare 
Pocahontas (2.171-2), dam of Tom Rolfe, was bred 
largely from running stock on both sides. The dam 
of Pugb's Aratus, sire of Tom Rolfe, was by Wallace's 
Saxe Weimer, a son of the thoroughbred Saxe Weimer, 
by Sir Archy ; by which it appears that the sire of Tom 
Rolfe was inbred to Sir Archy, the best son of imported 
Diomed. Iron's Cadmus, the sire of Pocahontas 
(2.171-2), was also inbred to imported Diomed. 
Pocahontas (2.17 1-2) is in the great brood mare 
list. She was the dam of the trotter Young 
Pocahontas (2.26 3-4). Two of her sons, viz., Tom 
Rolfe (2.33 1-2) and Strideaway, were sires of standard 
speed, and her daughters produced the trotters Nancy 
(2.231-2) and May Morning (2.30). 

240 



TROTTING FAMILIES FROM PACERS. 

Tom Kolfe took a trotting record of 2.33 1-2. He 
was the sire of four trotters with records from 2.12 1-4 
to 2.25 and three pacers with records from 2.12 1-4 
to 2.23. The most noted of his get was the famous 
pacer Sleepy Tom (2.121-4), that, though blind, beat 
all the best pacers of his day, and during the season 
of 1879 won fourteen races. Three of the sons of 
Tom Rolfe were sires of standard speed, viz., Pocahon- 
tas Boy, Rolfe Duke and Young Rolfe (2.21 1-4). The 
latter died when but eight years old. Gould he have 
lived till twenty-five years old he would probably have 
taken a much faster record than 2.21 1-4 and proved a 
very successful sire of uniform trotting speed. 

Young Rolfe. Young Rolfe was the sire of nine 
with standard records, all trotters, the fastest of which 
is Nelson (2.09), that lowered the world's champion 
record for trotting stallions to 2.10, at Grand Rapids, 
Mich., September 17, 1891. This is the fastest record 
ever made by a trotting stallion to high wheels over 
a regulation track. The dam of Nelson was the great 
brood mare Gretchen, by Gideon, a son of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian, and his second dam was Kate, by Ver- 
mont Black Hawk. Young Rolfe got five sons that 
are the sires of thirty-six trotter.s and twenty-three 
pacers with standard records. He is also credited 
with five daughters that have produced seven trotters 
and one pacer which have made standard records. The 
most successful of his sons as a sire is Nelson (2.09), 
that is credited with thirty-two trotters and nineteen 
pacers with standard records, also with eleven sons 
that have sired nine trotters and seven pacers which 



241 



TEE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

have taken records in standard time, while his daugh- 
ters have produced six that have made standard 
records. 

Pocahontas Boy. The most successful son of Tom 
Kolfe as a speed perpetuator wa^ Pocahontas Boy, but 
a large proportion of his get were pacers, and nearly 
all the standard performers got by his sons made their 
records at the pacing gait. The dam of Pocahontas 
Boy was by Jerry, a son of Shropshire's Tom Hal. 
The latter was by Bald Stockings (also known as Lail's 
Tom Hal), and he by old Tom Hal, founder of the 
noted Tom Hal pacing family. Pocahontas Boy sired 
seven trotters and fourteen pacers that made records 
in standard time; eleven of his sons have sired three 
trotters and fifty pacers with standard records, and 
eighteen of his daughters have produced nine trotters 
and eighteen pacers that have made standard records. 

Pocahontas Sam. The most successful son of Po- 
cahontas Boy as a sire was Pocahontas Sam. If 
there ever was a pacing-bred stallion that should get 
trotting speed with uniformity it is this Pocahontas 
8am, for his dam was Fanny, the daughter of Wilson's 
Blue Bull that produced Lowland Girl (2.191-2). 
The blood of the champion old pacer Pocahontas 
(2.171-2) is united with that of the renowned Tom 
Hal and the famous Wilson's Blue Bull in Pocahontas 
Sam. He is credited with eighteen standard perform- 
ers, all pacers. Five of his sons have sired seven 
pacers that have made standard records. Three of 
his daughters have produced two trotters and two 
pacers that have made standard records. 



242 



Chaptbe IX. 
TWO PAGING FAMILIES. 



Narragansett Pacers. — The Hal Family. — Kittrell's Tom Hal. 
Gibson's Tom Hal, Jr.— Brown Hal (2.121-2). 

Pacers are found in all parts of the United States 
where trotters are bred. They appear unexpectedly 
and sometimes without any apparent excuse, among 
and from animals bred in orthodox trotting lines, often 
greatly to the disgust of their breeders. Some have 
attempted to account for this on the theory that the 
trotting and pacing gaits are practically the same and 
are interchangeable. Others who have studied the 
subject carefully and whose opinions are entitled to 
great weight, believe that the pacing gait is due to 
"incongruity of conformation," produced by the unit- 
ing of blood elements that are dissimilar, and this, all 
things considered, appears the more reasonable of the 
two. 

So far as we have been able to learn, there have 
never been but two families of pacers on this conti- 
nent that can justly be called families, and but a very 
small proportion of the pacers now found in this 
country can claim relationship with either of those 

243 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

families. Most of the modern ones are what may be 
properly termed sporadic. 

Narragansett Pacers. Many years ago there was 
a family of horses in New England known as Narra- 
gansett pacers. They were excellent saddle animals 
and admirably adapted to the use of pioneers of the 
country when roads were rough and not adapted to 
the use of carriages. There are conflicting statements 
in regard to the origin of the Narragansett pacers. 
They were small animals as compared with the horses 
of the present day, and black appears to have been the 
prevailing color among them. They were quite numer- 
ous in the vicinity of Narragansett Bay one hundred 
and fifty years ago, and many of them were undoubt- 
edly fast for the early day in which they flourished; 
but as the family has long been extinct and especially 
as no trotter of note that has ever lived and no pacer 
with a fast track record ever traced, through either sire 
or dam, to a member of this at one time most numerous 
of all families of pacers, the origin of the Narragan- 
sett pacer can not be of the slightest interest to prac- 
tical breeders of the present day. 

The Hal Family. The only family of pacers now 
in existence is that known as the Hals, and are descend- 
ants of a horse known as Kittrell's Tom Hal, believed 
to be a descendant of a horse called Tom Hal, whose 
origin has never been clearly established. He was 
bought in Philadelphia, Pa., by a Dr. Boswell and 
taken by him to Kentucky some time in the twentie«. 
It was claimed that he originated in Canada. He 
was a roan in color, not far from fifteen hands high, 

244 



TWO PACING FAMILIES. 

and is described as a smoothly-gaited pacer with con- 
siderable speed. He was kept for stock purposes in 
Kentucky during the remainder of his life, and died 
in that State the property of a Mr. Benjamin N. 
Shropshire. Among his get wa« the chestnut, blaze- 
faced, white-legged stallion Bald Stockings, also known 
as Lail's Tom Hal. 

Kittbbll's Tom Hal. The Hals that have attained 
greatest fame originated in the State of Tennessee. 
About 1850 Major M. B. Kittrell bought in Kentucky 
a bay pacing stallion called Tom Hal and took him to 
Tennessee, This horse is now known as Kittrell's 
Tom Hal. The late Judge Halsey of Kentucky, who 
for several of the last years of his life was a regular 
weekly contributor to the American Horse Breeder, 
investigated the breeding and origin of Kittrell's Tom 
Hal, and from the facts that he succeeded in obtain- 
ing from trustworthy sources, became satisfied that 
the sire of Kittrell's Tom Hal was Bald Stockings 
(Lail's Tom Hal). 

GiBSON^s Tom Hal, Jr. This Kittrell's Tom Hal 
never sired a standard performer, but from Julia John- 
son, by Adam's Stump (sire of the dam of the game 
trotting stallion Bonesetter, that took a record of 2,19 
back in 1879), he got Gibson's Tom Hal, Jr., by far 
the most successful sire and perpetuator of uniform 
pacing speed that had ever lived up to his time, 
Adam's Stump was by a running horse called Stump- 
the-Dealer. And that successful breeder of speed, Mr. 
Campbell Brown of Spring Hill, Tenn,, states that this 
Stump-the-Dealer, which got Adam's Stump, was a 
thoroughbred son of Timoleon, and he the son of Sir 



245 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Archy, that got the noted long-distance race winner 
Boston. 

Well informed Tennessee horsemen have stated that 
the dam of Stump-the-Dealer was by Potomac, a thor- 
oughbred son of imported Diomed. We have never 
been able to find any thoroughbred son of Timoleon 
registered under the name of Stump-the-Dealer; but 
this need not create a doubt in regard to the exist- 
ence of a thoroughbred horse of that name and breed- 
ing, as there were many horses eligible to registry as 
thoroughbreds that were not registered, through 
neglect of their owners or the owners of their dams. 
There are several horses registered under the name of 
Stump-the-Dealer. One of them, that in 1819 was 
owned in Virginia, was by Sir Archy ; dam by imported 
Diomed, second dam Rosetta by imported Sentinel. 
The latter was by Blank, a noted son of the renowned 
Godolphin Arabian, and his dam was by Cade, another 
of Godolphin Arabian's sons. 

The second dam of Gibson's Tom Hal, Jr., was by 
Cummings' Whip, a descendant of the thoroughbred 
Whip. It has been stated, upon apparently good 
authority, that the dam of Kittrell's Tom Hal was by 
Dare Devil, a thoroughbred descendant of imported 
Dare Devil ; and his second dam the Luzborough mare 
by imported Luzborough. The dam of Bald Stockings, 
sire of Kittrell's Tom Hal, wa^ by Chinn's Cop- 
perbottom, and his second dam was by Tarquin, 
said to be a son of imported Diomed. Chinn's 
Copperbottom was got by Fenwick's Copperbottom, a 
son of Brutus. This Brutus was by the old Canadian 
pacer Jowett's Copperbottom, and his dam was by 



246 



TWO PACING FAMILIES. 

the thoroughbred Robin Grey, a son of imported Roy- 
alist. The dam of Fen wick's Oopperbottom (sire of 
Chinn's Oopperbottom) was by Pitt's Ball, a son of 
imported Royalist, and his second dam was by Meade's 
Celer, the best son of imported Janus. It appears 
from this that while Gibson's Tom Hal, Jr., had two 
pacing crosses (one through old Tom Hal that never 
got a performer with a fast record, and another 
through Oopperbottom), he was much more strongly 
bred in running than in pacing lines. 

Gibson's Tom Hal, Jr., was really the founder of 
the Hal family. Nearly all of the fast performers of 
that family are found among his descendants. He is 
credited with sixteen pacers that have made records 
in standard time, the fastest of which is that game 
campaigner Hal Pointer (2.04 1-2) that Trainer E. F. 
Geers raced so successfully several years ago. The 
first of the get of Gibson's Tom Hal, Jr., to gain a 
national reputation for speed and stamina was Little 
Brown Jug that became the world's champion light 
harness race winner at Hartford, Conn., August 24, 
1881, where he beat Mattie Hunter and Luci/ in 
straight heats, time 2.11 3-4, 2.11 3-4, 2.12 1-2. 

The dam of Little Brown Jug was Lizzie. Her sire 
was John Netherland by Taylor's Henry Hal, a son 
of Kittrell's Tom Hal. The dam of Lizzie was Blackie, 
by John Hal, a misleading name, as he did not have a 
drop of Hal blood in his veins. John Hal was by 
Smith's John Eaton and he by the running-bred John 
Eaton, whose sire was Virginian, a thoroughbred son 
of Sir Archy. The dam of John Hal was Melinda by 
Whale, probably a son of imported Whale. The 



247 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

second dam of Little Brown Jug was Old March by 
Young Conqueror, a son of Lafayette. The latter is 
registered in Bruce's American Stud Book. His sire 
was Virginian, a son of Sir Archy, and his dam was a 
daughter of Sir Archy, the horse that the late John H. 
Wallace once pronounced "the Godolphin Arabian of 
America." 

Brown Hal (2.121-2). Gibson's Tom Hal, Jr., is 
credited with twelve sons that have sired standard 
pacing speed. The most successful of these is Brown 
Hal (2.121-2), and he was a full brother of Little 
Brown Jug (2.113-4). His dam was Lizzie, whose 
breeding is given above. Brown Hal is the sii-e of 
sixty-one that have made standard records, all pacers, 
and the records of eleven of them are from 1..59 1-4 to 
2.10. His fastest, Star Pointer, was the first light 
harness horse to cross the two-minute line. The dam 
of Star Pointer (1.591-4) was the great brood mare 
Sweepstakes, that also produced the game campaigner 
Hal Pointer (2.041-2), and two others with standard 
records. Hal Pointer (2.04 1-2) was by Gibson's Tom 
Hal, Jr., the paternal grandsire of Star Pointer 
(1.591-4). 

Sweepstakes was a direct descendant of Kittrell's 
Tom Hal, on her sire's side. She was by Knight's 
Snow Heels, and he by Knight's Tom Hal, a son of 
Kittrell's Tom Hal. The breeding of the dam of 
Knight's Tom Hal is not known, but it has been stated 
upon good authority that the dam of Knight's Snow 
Heels was by Buckett's Glencoe, a son of imported 
Glencoe. The second dam of Sta/r Pointer was Kit by 



248 



TWO PACING FAMILIES. 

McMeen's Traveler, a son of the thoroughbred Stump- 
the-Dealer, that got Adam's Stump, sire of the dam of 
Gibson's Tom Hal, Jr. 

Brown Hal (2.12 1-2) is credited with fourteen sons 
that up to the close of 1903 had sired seventy-two 
pacers and one trotter with standard records. The 
son that had sired the greatest number is Hal Dillard 
(2.04 3-4), that was then credited with twenty-seven 
pacer-s and one trotter that had made records in stand- 
ard time, including Fanny Dillard (2.03 3-4). Star 
Pointer (1.591-4) comes next in rank as a sire, with 
eleven to his credit, all pacers, the fastest of which 
is Morning Star (2.04 3-4), the largest money -winning 
pacer out in 1904. Sidney Pointer (2.07 1-4), a son of 
Star Pointer (1.591-4), is the sire of Angus Pointer 
(2.041-2), that ranks fourth among the greatest 
money-winning pacers of the season of 1904. 

The Hal family of pacers is a wonderful one for 
producing fast game race winners, that train on and 
breed on. It is the only family of pacers now in ex- 
istence, and bids fair to survive as long as high-class 
pacing races are popular. It is a singular fact, how- 
ever, that the world's champion pacing records are all 
held by pacers that were trotting-bred. The stallion 
Dan Patchy that holds the world's champion pacing 
record for aged animals, 1.56, is inbred to the Hamble- 
tonian strain through George Wilkes (2.22), also in- 
herits a Mambrino Chief strain through Mambrino 
Patchen, and a Vermont Black Hawk strain through 
Joe Young (2.18), that got the dam of Joe Patchen 
(2.01 1-4), sire of Dan Patch (1.56). 



249 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

The world's champion four-year-old pacing record — 
2.04 — stands to the credit of Online, and his sire was 
the trotter Shadeland Onward (2.181-2), a son of 
Onward (2.251-4) by George Wilkes (2.22). The 
world's three-year-old champion pacing record — 
2.05 1-2 — wa8 made in 1898 by Klatawah, whose sire 
was the trotter Steinway (3) (2.25 3-4), and whose 
dam was Katie G., by Electioneer. The world's 
champion two-year-old pacing record is 2.07 3-4, and 
was made in 1894 by Directly, whose sire. Direct 
(2.051-2), was by the trotter Director (2.17), and 
whose dam was by the standard-bred trotter Naubuc, 
a full brother of the trotting stallion Thomas Jeflferson 
(2.23). The world's champion pacing record for year 
lings is 2.20 3-4, made in 1892 by Belle Acton, a filly 
got by the trotter Shadeland Onward (2.181-2), the 
same son of Onward (2.25 1-4) that got Online (4) 
(2.04). The dam of Shadeland Onward, sire of these 
two world's champion pacing record breakers, was by 
Mambrino Time, a son of Mambriiio Patchen; and 
his second dam was Cap, by Ward's Flying Cloud, a 
son of Vermont Black Hawk. The yearling colt Paul 
D. Kelly, that equalled the record of Belle Acton 
(2.20 3-4) the past season, is also trotting-bred on both 
sides. His sire, Armont, was by Belmont, son of 
Alexanders Abdalhilu and his dam, Arabell, was by 
AriBtos (2.27 3-4), son of Daniel Lambert. The dam 
of Paul D. Kelly was by Edmond, a son of Sprague 
Suberb (2.291-4); second dam by Haroldson, son of 
Harold, and third dam the great brood mare Olive 
by Daniel I^ambert. 

250 



TWO PACING FAMILIES. 

During the past twenty-five years certain turf writ- 
ers have claimed that the American trotter was 
indebted more largely to the pacer for his speed than 
to any other source. Years ago it was claimed that 
the Narragansett pacer originated before the galloper, 
that is, the running race horse. The earliest date of 
the existence of the Narragansett pacer, according to 
the author of that statement, was 1711. Historians 
state that the Olympic Games were established in 
Greece 1450 years before the Christian era. On the 
second day of these games horse racing was a feature 
of the sports, and among the regular exercises on the 
fourth day were the chariot and horse races. The 
horses that took part in these contests were runners. 
From this it appears that there had been gallopers in 
existence that were used for racing purposes at least 
twenty-five hundred years before the Narraganaiett 
pacer was known. It is a matter of history that horse 
racing at the running gait was one of the sports in 
England at least six hundred years before the Narra- 
gansett pacer first appeared. 



251 



Chapter X. 
THOROUGHBRED AND PACING CROSSES 



Their Relative Value as Factors in Trotting Speed. — Notable 
Examples. 

When the theory was first advanced that the pacing 
cross was the most potent factor of trotting speed, the 
writer was greatly interested in the subject and studied 
it quite carefully for the purpose of getting the bottom 
facts. As the Narragansett pacers were very numer- 
ous in this country at least fifty years before any 
trotter of note appeared, one would naturally expect 
to find that cross in the most famous of the early 
American trotters, provided that the trotter was really 
the offspring of the pacer. Among the most famous 
of the first trotters of note produced in this country 
were Top Gallant, Whalebone, Dutchman, Screwdriver 
and Lady Suffolk. A careful analysis of the blood 
lines of all of these noted old-time trotters failed to 
disclose a single cross of the Narragansett pacer in 
any of them. It showed, however, that every one of 
the five were by sires and from dams both of which 
were direct descendants of the running race horse 



252 



THOROUGHBRED AND PACING CROSSES. 

imported Messenger, and also that there were other 
running crosses besides imported Messenger close up 
in their pedigrees, but no pacing crosses, either Narra- 
gansett or any other. ' Following down through the 
list of world's trotting record breakers from Lady 
Suffolk no Narragansett pacing cross can be found in 
the pedigrees of any of them, and no pacing cross 
whatever until Jay-Eye-See (2.10) and Maud S. 
(2.08 3-4) are reached, when a cross of the Canadian 
pacer old Pilot appears, through his son. Pilot, Jr., 
in the first dam of each. The dam of Pilot, Jr., was 
by Funk's Havoc, a running-bred son of Sir Charles 
by Sir Archy. The second dam of Jay-Eye-See was a 
thoroughbred daughter of Lexington, a son of Boston 
and a four-mile running record breaker. The second 
dam of Maud S. was a thoroughbred daughter of Bos- 
ton, and Boston won a greater number of four-mile 
heat races than any other horse of his day. 

Taking all these facts into consideration, it looked 
quite as reasonable to an unprejudiced student of the 
breeding problem that the unusual speed ability 
shown by Jay-Eye-See (2.10) and Maud S. (2.08 3-4) 
might have been inherited from those record-breaking 
runners as that it came from the Canadian pacer old 
Pilot. Knowing that several pacers had originated 
in Canada, the idea was suggested that if pacer-s were 
the origin of trotting speed the pedigrees of the fastest 
trotters raised in Canada must show a near pacing 
cross of some kind. The two fastest Canadian bred 
trotters at that time were Phyllis (2.15 1-2) and Moose 
(2.191-2). Phyllis (2.15 1-2) was by Phil Sheridan 
(2.261-2), a son of Young Columbus (2.35 1-4), he by 



253 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Old Oolombne, a horse of unknown breeding, that was 
a natural pacer. The dam of Phyllis was by Tom 
Sayers, a son of Canada Grey Eagle, said to be a de- 
scendant of old Winthrop Messenger; and her second 
dam, Grey Nell, was, according to good authority. 
from running stock on both sides. Here is a running 
cross close up, but no pacing cross nearer than Old 
Columbus. Moose (2.19 1-2) was by the Washbuin 
Horse, an animal of unknown breeding, that got in> 
trotter except this solitary Moose (2.19 1-2). The dam 
of Moose was by the thoroughbred imported Trustee 

These investigations forced upon the writer's mind 
the conclusion that the pacing cross was of little, if 
any, value as a factor of trotting speed, unless there 
was a thoroughbred cross close to the pacing cross. 
A few years later Sunol reduced the world's champion 
trotting record to 2.08 1-4. Her sire was Electioneei 
by Rysdyk's Hambletonian. Her dam was by the trot- 
ter Gen. Benton, and her second dam. Waxy, was a 
thoroughbred daughter of Lexington, sire of the second 
dam of Jay-Eye-See (2.10). The search for a pacing 
cross in the dam of Sunol (2.08 1-4) was fruitless, and 
the logical conclusion was that as a son of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian could get a world's record breaker from 
a mare that had no pacing inheritance, but whose dam 
was by a successful race winning thoroughbred, the 
pacing cross as a speed factor had been greatly over- 
rated by some writers. 

The same season that Sunol reduced the world's 
champion trotting record to 2.081-4, Palo Alto, by 
Electioneer, reduced the world's champion record for 
trotting stallions to 2.08 3-4. An investigation of his 

254 



THOROUGHBRED AND PACING CROSSES. 

pedigree showed that his dam, Dame Winnie, was a 
thoroughbred daughter of Planet. Further investiga- 
tion showed that Planet was one of the most successful 
race winners of his day. He was raced for several sea- 
sons, won in all fifty -seven races, if we remember 
correctly, and when retired from the turf was per- 
fectly sound and without blemish. His sire was 
Revenue and his dam was Nina by Boston ; second dam 
imported Frolicsome Fanny by Lottery. Revenue was 
by imported Trustee. His dam was Rosalie Somers by 
Sir Charles, son of Sir Archy; second dam by Vir- 
ginian, by Sir Archy ; third dam by imported Bedford ; 
fourth dam by imported Bellair, and so on to the tenth 
dam, which was the imported mare Miss Bell. The 
result of these investigations was the conclusion that 
extreme record breaking trotting speed was due to 
some quality inherited from successful race winning 
thoroughbreds. 

It is also a significant fact, as those who have inves- 
tigated the matter carefully well know, that the pedi- 
gi'ees of the fastest pacers show numerous thorough- 
bred crosses. After Star Pointer accomplished the 
wonderful feat at Readville of lowering the world's 
champion pacing record to 1.59 1-4, the interesting and 
impartial writer Trotwood, a native of Tennessee, 
called attention to the fact that the first Tom Hals 
which appeared in Tennessee were lacking in speed 
and it was not till after the family had absorbed the 
warm blood of the Tennessee race horses that they 
became distinguished as race winners. Trotwood also 
stated that the pedigree of Star Pointer showed not 
less than six crosses of the old Derby winner Diomed, 



255 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

the greatest progenitor of race winning record break 
ing runners that was ever brought to America. If he 
had pursued his investigations farther he would have 
found at least ten crosses of old Diomed in Star 
Pointer, not counting the Tarquin cross in Chinn'3 
Copperbottom, sire of the dam of Bald Stockings. 

The thoroughbred race horse is the descendant of 
ancestors which have been bred for centuries for -speed 
and other race winning qualities. He has been bred 
with great care and the natural result is a family of 
animals the best of which possess the important race 
vinning qualities in a higher degree than can be found 
in any other breed or family of horses. This accounts 
for the improvement in speed and other necessary race 
winning qualities which has resulted from a thorough- 
bred cross in both the American trotter and pacer. 

The Pacing Cross. If the pacing cross be so potent 
a factor of trotting speed as some turf writers have 
claimed during the past twenty-five years, then the 
surest way to breed uniform and extreme trotting 
speed is to breed from pacers. But if this be so why 
is it that some of the world's record-breaking trotters 
have not come from the Hal family of pacers? It has 
been stated upon apparently good authority that old 
Tom Hal was taken to Kentucky as early as 1828; but 
the early trotters of Kentucky do not show a Hal cross 
in their pedigrees. The same is true of all the really 
noted Kentucky bred trotting sires, from Almont to 
McKinney (2.111-4). It is also true of all the great 
brood mares bred in Kentucky that were famous as 
producers of trotters. Some of the ancestors of a part 

256 



THOROUGHBRED AND PACING CROSSE 8. 

of them paced, it is true, but they were not the de- 
scendants of old Tom Hal, or of any other family of 
pacers. The only Hal stallion that has sired a trotter 
with a record so fast as 2.11 is Hal Dillard (2.04 3-4), 
and the only trotter which he has ever sired that has 
taken a record in standard time is Hallie Rocket 
(2.11). The dam of Hallie Rocket was by Kilbuck 
Tom, and her second dam was by Wilson's Blue Bull. 

Kilbuck Tom made a record of 2.31 trotting and 2.26 
pacing. The sire of Kilbuck Tom was White Cloud. 
He was by a horse that was called Dan Rice and 
claimed to be thoroughbred. The dam of White Cloud 
is given as a Canadian pacer, but nothing is known 
of her origin and breeding. The dam of Kilbuck Tom 
was a beautiful chestnut mare that came from Ken- 
tucky, and it was claimed that she was by the famous 
race horse Lexington. She ran several races and was 
never beaten. Her spirit and bottom were remarkable. 
This Kilbuck Tom got the spotted mare Leopard Rose 
that trotted to a record of 2.15 1-4 in 1890. The dam 
of Leopard Rose was by Gurney, a son of Wood's 
Hambletonian. Two of the maternal ancestors of the 
trotter Hallie Rocket (2.11) paced. Hallie was a good 
mare, but she was far from being a record-breaker. 
Yet she is the fastest trotter in the Hal family. The 
only other trotter that we can now recall that was got 
by a Hal stallion is Little Gipsy (2.22), whose sire was 
Gray's Tom Hal. 

The success of this greatest of all pacing families 
in producing extreme and uniform trotting speed does 
not seem to have been sufficient to support the claim 
made by the late J. H. Wallace, one of the foremost 



257 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

writers on ti'otting horse topics, that the pacing cros-s 
is one of the most potent factors of trotting speed. 
Careful study of the Year Book and Register does not 
appear to disclose facts which to an impartial mind 
lead to such a conclusion, or support such an opinion. 
It is a fact which all students of the breeding problem 
must have observed, that those writers who give the 
pacing cross the highest praise as a factor of trotting 
speed, emphatically denounce a near thoroughbred 
cross in a trotting pedigree. Their argument is that 
a thoroughbred race horse was bred to run and hence 
a thoroughbred cross must be detrimental to a trotter. 

Mambrino Chief, founder of the Mambrino Chief 
trotting family, was bred in the State of New York 
and was foaled in 1844. He was kept in that State 
until the winter of 1854, when he was taken to Ken- 
tucky, where he remained until he died in March. 
1862. He was used for stock jjurposes in New York, 
beginning, without doubt, in his three-year-old form. 
This would give him seven seasons of service in New 
York State, the first two of which were probably 
limited to but few patrons, but beginning with his 
five-year-old form he was capable of doing full service, 
which would give him five full seasons in the North. 
Not one of those animals that Mambrino Chief got 
in the North ever made a record in standard time. 

The fastest trotter that Mambrino Chief ever got 
was the famous Lady Thorn (2.181-4), and his most 
successful son as a progenitor of speed was Herr's 
Mambrino Patchen, a full brother of Lady Thorn. The 
dam of these two noted animals was known as the 
Rodes Mare. Her sire was Gano and her dam was a 



258 



THOROVGHBRED AND PACING CROSSES. 

pacer. Gano was quite a successful race horse and a 
fairly successful sire of running race winners. He is 
registered in Bruce's American Stud Book, a register 
for thoroughbred animals, and the best American 
authority. The sire of Gano was American Eclipse, 
a famous long distance race winner, sired by Duroc, 
a son of imjiorted Diomed, and American Eclipse's 
dam was the ^luccessful running race mare Miller's 
Damsel, by imported Messenger. The dam of Gano 
was Betsey Ranson, by Virginian, a son of Sir Archy. 
This Sir Archy was admitted to be the greatest four- 
mile race horse in the world when he was retired 
from the turf. He was the best son of imported 
Diomed, and his success as a sire of race winners was 
folly equal to his success as a racer on the turf. The 
second dam of Lady Thorn and Mambrino Patchen, 
as already stated, was a pacer. She is described as 
very blood-like in appearance. Her sire is given as a 
son of the thoroughbred Sir William of Transport, 
and Sir William of Transport was by Sir Archy, his 
dam being Transport, by Virginius, a son of imported 
Diomed. The third dam of Lady Thorn and Mam- 
brino Patchen was also a pacer. She resembled a 
thoroughbred in appearance, but nothing is known of 
her breeding. 

Those who believe that a pacing cross is the main- 
spring of trotting speed claim that the speed ability 
of Lady Thorn (2.18 1-4) and the success of her full 
brother, Mambrino Patchen, as a progenitor of trotters, 
were due to the fact that their second dam was a pacer, 
though it is not known that either her sire or dam 
ever paced. The advocates of the pacing cross no 



259 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

doubt actually believe that because the second dam of 
Mambrino Patchen paced, this distinguished son of 
Mambrino Chief was more largely indebted to her 
for his speed perpetuating powers than to all his other 
maternal ancestors, and perhaps it can't be proven 
that he was not. 

Those who first advocated this doctrine contended 
that the pacing and trotting gait-s are interchangeable 
and essentially the same. This being the case, if the 
thoroughbred cross be detrimental to trotting speed, 
as they claim, it follows that the thoroughbred cross 
must also be detrimental to pacing speed. Hence, 
according to this theory, the get of Mambrino Chief 
that were from pacing mares which did not inherit 
a thoroughbred cross should be faster trotters than 
Lady Thorn (2.18 1-4) and more successful as pro- 
genitors of trotting speed than Mambrino Patchen. 
Is this in accordance with the facts found in those in- 
fallible guides, the Year Book and Trotting Register? 
Let us examine them and see. The second fastest 
trotter got by Mambrino Chief was Woodford Mam- 
brino (2.211-2). The dam of Woodford Mambrino 
was the great brood mare Woodbine, and she also 
produced that game campaigner Wedgewood (2.19). 
Woodbine was by the thoroughbred Woodford, whose 
vsire was Kosciusko, and whose dam was Melissa, by 
Hancock's Hamiltonian by Hamlintonian, son of 
imported Diomed. Kosciusko was a full brother of 
Saxe Weimer, to which the great brood mare Dolly, 
by Mambrino Chief, was inbred. His sire was Sir 
Archy, by imported Diomed, and his dam was Lottery, 
by imported Bedford; second dam the imported mare 

260 



THOROUGHBRED AND PACING CR088ES. 

Anvelina. There were no pacers among the ancestors 
of Woodbine, and yet, with the exception of Mambrino 
Patchen, Woodford Mambrino (2,21 1-2) was the most 
successful son of Mambrino Chief as a progenitor of 
trotting speed, and far superior as a race trotter to 
any of the other sons and daughters of Mambrino 
Chief except Lady Thorn (2.181-4), whose dam, the 
Rodes mare, was largely thoroughbred and also bred 
in similar lines to those found in the dam of Woodford 
Mambrino. 

It is interesting to compare the speed producing 
and speed perpetuating ability of those sons of Mam- 
brino Chief which were from running bred mares 
that had no pacing ancestors, with such of his sons 
as were from pacing mares that had no near thorough- 
bred crosses in their pedigrees. Some writers who 
were looked upon as the highest authority on the 
breeding of trotters have gone so far as to assert 
positively and emphatically that the pacer or pacing 
element is the real source of trotting speed. The 
same writers, as already observed, have stated with 
equal positiveness and emphasis that any thoroughbred 
cross is detrimental to trotting speed. This is a 
question of deep interest and great importance to 
breeders of trotting stock. Now if the claim of the 
above named writers be true, then the progeny of any 
sire, Mambrino Chief for instance, which were from 
pacing dams, or those from pacing ancestors, with no 
near thoroughbred crosses in their pedigrees, should 
have proved much more successful as fast trotters and 
progenitors of trotting speed than those sons of 
Mambrino Chief which were from dams that were not 



261 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

pacers, but whose ancestors on the contrary were 
thoroughbreds, or running stock. What are the facts ? 
Any one can learn for himself by studying the Great 
Table in the Year Book. As there are some who may 
not have Year Books or may not have time to hunt up 
the facts in them, we will give the facts as they appear 
there. 

The total number of Mambrino Chiefs sons that 
sired standard speed according to the Year Book is 
twenty-three. Five of these twenty-three were from 
dams that were either pacers themselves, or were bred 
from pacing stock, and had no near thoroughbred 
crosses in their pedigrees. They are as follows: 

First: — Alcalde, whose dam was by Pilot, Jr., a son 
of pacing Pilot, and whose second dam was a trotter. 
Alcalde is the sire of four performers which have taken 
records in standard time. Four of his sons sired a 
total of thirteen standard performers and his daugh- 
ters produced fifteen with standard records, making 
the total number to the credit of Alcalde, thirty-two. 

Second: — Garrard Chief, whose dam was of pacing 
stock. Garrard Chief is the sire of one standard 
performer. Three of his sons have sired a total of 
five in the 2.30 list, and his daughters have produced 
seventeen standard performers, making the total 
twenty-three. 

Third: — Joe Hooker, whose dam was by the pacer 
Davy Crockett. Joe Hooker got two standard per- 
formers. None of his sons ever sired a 2.30 trotter 
or 2.25 pacer, but his daughters produced foui' in the 
list, giving him a total of six. 



THOROUGHBRED AND PACING CROSSES, 

Fourth: — Mambrino Brave, whose dam was the 
I)acer Lady Denmark. Mambrino Brave got one that 
is in the standard list, but none of his sons ever sired 
nor none of his daughters ever produced a standard 
performer, so his total is one. 

Fifth: — Mambrino Star. The dam of Mambrino 
Star was Lady Fairfield, by the pacer Old Red Buck. 
The number of standard performers got by Mambrino 
Star is two. None of his sons ever sired a standard 
performer, and his daughters have produced but eight 
in the list, which makes his number ten. 

The above are the only five of Mambrino Chief's 
sons which were from strictly pacing or pacing bred 
dams, and the total number of standard performers 
got by them and their sons added to all that were 
produced by their daughters is seventy-two. 

There were five sons of Mambrino Chief that were 
out of running bred dams with no pacing ancestry, 
which we will compare with the above five from pacing 
dams. They are as follows: 

First: — Ashland. His dam was Utilla, a running 
bred daughter of imported Margrave. Ashland is the 
sire of three in the 2.30 list. His sons have sired one 
standard performer, and his daughters produced four, 
giving him a total of eight. 

Second: — Ashland Chief, whose dam was the"Tiley 
mare, a running bred daughter of imported Yorkshire. 
Ashland Chief is the sire of three in the list. Two of 
his sons have sired eight and his daughters have 
produced nineteen standard performers, giving him 
thirty. 

263 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Third:— Idol (Peck's). The dam of Peck's Idol 
was a running bred daughter of the great four mile 
race horse American Eclipse. Idol is the sire of five 
in the standard list. One son has sired three and 
his daughters have produced fourteen in all, making 
a total of twenty-two. 

Fourth:! — Mambrino Chief, Jr. (Fisk's). The dam 
of Fisk's Mambrino Chief, Jr., was the second dam 
of Mambrino King, and was by Birmingham, a son 
of Stockholder, by Sir Archy. His second dam was 
by Bertrand, a son of Sir Archy, and his third dam 
by Robert Bruce, another descendant of Sir Archy. 
Fisk's Mambrino Chief sired six with standard 
records. Six of his sons sired in all twenty-three in 
the standard list, and his daughters produced twenty- 
three standard performers, making in all fifty-two. 

Fifth :— Woodford Mambrino (2.211-2). His dam 
was Woodbine, by the running bred Woodford, a son 
of Kosciusko, by Sir Archy. Woodford Mambrino 
sired thirteen standard performers, all trotters. 
Twenty-five of his sons are credited with a total of 
one hundred and sixty-eight standard performers, and 
his daughters have produced forty-three, making a 
total of two hundred and twenty-four. 

The number of standard performers got by the five 
sons of Mambrino Chief, which were out of pacing or 
pacing-bred dams, together with those sired by their 
sons and produced by their daughters, is seventy-two, 
as against three hundred and thirty-six credited to 
the five sons from dams of thoroughbred stock. 



264 



I 

I 






^.-^■ 




THOROUGHBRED AND PACING CR088E8. 

It seems from the above that those five sons, 
together with their sons and daughters from running- 
bred dams, have produced nearly five times as many 
standard performers as those from pacing dams. 
Were the quality or capacity for a high rate of speed 
to be taken into account it would be found that those 
stallions which are from running-bred dams are as 
far ahead of those from the pacing dams in that 
respect as they are in the number of standard 
performers. 

Mambrino Patchen was far superior to any other 
son of Mambrino Chief as a progenitor of trotting 
speed. He is credited with twenty-five that made 
standard records, all trotters; also with fifty-three 
sons that have sired one hundred and ninety-eight with 
standard records, and up to the close of 1903 with one 
hundred and two daughters that had produced one 
hundred and fifty-two that had made records in stand- 
ard time. His dam, the Rodes mare, as already stated, 
was by the thoroughbred Gano; his second dam by a 
son of the thoroughbred Sir William of Transport, 
and his third dam a mare of unknown ancestry that 
paced, but it is not known whether she was from 
pacing ancestors or was one of the many accidental 
pacers — probably the latter. 

Now, in the light of the facts shown by the above 
comparison of the five producing sons of Mambrino 
Chief whose dams were pacers or from pacing stock, 
with the five sons which were from dams that were 
thoroughbred, or from near thoroughbred ancestors 
on both sides, the question is, to what was the superior- 
itv of Mambrino Patchen due? Was it to the fact 



265 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

that his third dam paced, or was it the result of the 
speed ability, the courage, the endurance and the in- 
clination to win that he inherited from his thorough- 
bred ancestors, which were among the most noted race 
winners of their day, and were descendants of the 
best racing stock to be found in England? There are 
the plain, unvarnished facts. What is the logical 
conclusion to be derived from them by those of un- 
prejudiced minds? 

Let us pursue the investigation a step farther. 
From what sort of dams were the sons of Mambrino 
Patchen that were most successful as sires of speed, 
and those of his daughters that were most successful 
as speed producers ? What was the character of these 
dams and how were they bred? Were they pacers? 
Did their ancestors pace, or were they, too, from 
mares bred in thoroughbred lines and from the best 
of race-winning stock? 

It has already been stated that Mambrino Patchen 
is credited with fifty-three sons that have sired one 
hundred and ninety-eight animals which have made 
standard records, and one hundred and fifty-eight of 
them were trotters — an average of about three trotters 
and one pacer to each of the fifty-three sons. The son 
of Mambrino Patchen which stands out prominently 
from, and towers far above all others as a progenitor 
of standard performers, is Mambrino King. As the 
returns for 1904 are as yet incomplete, we 
will take the figures shown in the Year Book for 1903. 
Mambrino King is there credited with fifty-three trot- 
ters and sixteen pacers that had made standard rec- 
ords. This is a slight fraction more than one-third 



266 



THOROUGHBRED AND PACING CROSSES. 

of the entire number of standard performers credited 
to the fifty-three sons of Mambrino Patchen. Among 
this number are three trotters and five pacers that 
have made records from 2.04 1-4 to 2.10. An investi- 
gation of the blood lines of the dam of Mambrino 
King shows that she was by Alexander's Edwin For- 
rest, a horse inbred to Watkins' Highlander. The lat- 
ter was by the imported English running-bred horse, 
Brown Highlander. The second dam of Mambrino 
King was by Birmingham, a running-bred son of 
Stockholder by Sir Archy ; third dam by Bertrand, an- 
other son of Sir Archy ; fourth dam by Robert Bruce, 
by Clinton, by Sir Charles by Sir Archy, and fifth dam 
by imported Buzzard. There was none of the pacing 
element in the dam of Mambrino King. On the con- 
trary, she inherited a very large share of the same 
kind of thoroughbred blood that is found in the dam 
of Mambrino Patchen. 

The most successful of the one hundred and two 
daughters of Mambrino Patchen as a producer of 
trotters was the renowned Alma Mater. Eight of the 
sons and daughters of Alma Mater trotted to records 
of 2.30 or better, and among them were the successful 
sires Alcantara (2.23), Alcyone (2.27) and Alfonso 
(2.29 3-4). One will look in vain for pacers among 
the maternal ancestors of Alma Mater. Her dam, 
Estella, was a thoroughbred daughter of imported 
Australian. Her second dam was Fanny G., by im- 
ported Margrave, and she was also the second dam 
of the great brood mare Dame Winnie, that produced 
Palo Alto (2.08 3-4), etc. The third dam of Alma 
Mater was Lancess, by Lance, son of the renowned 



267 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

American Eclipse; fourth dam, Aurora by Aratus, a 
son of Director by Sir Archy; fifth dam, Paragon by 
imported Buzzard, and so on through thoroughbreds 
to her eighth dam, which was the famous Slammer- 
kin, whose sire was imported Wildair, and whose 
dam was the noted Cub Mare, imported from Eng- 
land. Slammerkin was the third dam of Mambrino, 
sire of old Abdallah. 

Now let us see how the dam of that son of Mam- 
brino King is bred, which has sired the greatest num- 
ber of standard performers. The son of Mambrino 
King that has proved the most successful as a sire 
of performers with standard records is Elyria 
(2.251-4). At the close of 1903 Elyria was cred- 
ited with sixty-one trotters and thirteen pacers 
that had taken standard records — a total of seventy- 
four. His sire. Mambrino King, was then credited 
with fifty-three trotters and sixteen pacers, a total of 
sixty-nine. His list of standard performers already 
exceeds that of his sire. The dam of Elyria (2.25 1-4) 
was Maggie Mitchell. She was got by Bradford's 
Telegraph, a non-standard son of Vermont Black 
Hawk, that was owned and kept for stock purposes 
by I. T. Bradford, Augusta, Ky., and died his prop- 
erty in 1876. It is stated upon good authority that 
the second dam of Elyria was by a thoroughbred called 
Prince Edward. There are three thoroughbreds 
roistered in Bruce's American Stud Book under that 
name : one, a chestnut horse, foaled 1828, owned at one 
time in Georgia and sired by Muckle John, a son of 
Sir Archy. Another was a bay horse, foaled in 1834, 
sired by Sir Charles, a son of Sir Archy; dam by 



268 



THOROUGHBRED AND PACING GROSSES. 

Randolph's Roanoke, son of Sir Archy. This horse 
was also owned in the South. The third, Prince Ed- 
ward, was owned in Canada, and was too young to 
have got the second dam of Elyria. It is probable 
from the date of her birth that she was by the son 
of Sir Charles that was foaled in 1834. One thing is 
sure. The dam of Elyria was not a pacer and had no 
known pacing inheritance. Neither the success of 
Mambrino King nor Elyria can be attributed to the 
pacing element. 

There is no doubt that the pacing gait is more con- 
ducive to extreme speed than the trotting gait. It 
required no greater amount of nerve force, energy, 
or propelling power, to enable Jay-Eye-See to pace a 
mile in 2.06 1-4 than it did to trot a mile in 2.10 — 
probably not as great. There is no doubt that a fast 
pacing stallion or mare may transmit fast trotting 
ability; neither is there any doubt that slow pacers 
which have no speed inheritance cannot do this. It 
would be contrary to the law of heredity. Every fast 
pacer whose breeding is known has a thoroughbred 
inheritance from some ancestor or ancestors. There 
are but few instances where a pacing stallion whose 
sire was a trotter has been more successful as a sire 
of trotting speed than some trotting stallion by the 
same sire. Direct (2.05 1-2) is one of them. He was 
a trotter at first and took a record of 2.18 1-4 at that 
gait as a four-year-old. Moreover, his second dam 
was by Jack Hawkins, a thoroughbred son of Boston. 
Sidney (2.19 3-4) was another, and he, too, trotted 

269 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

when young. It was undoubtedly their speed inheri- 
tance and not their pacing gait that made them suc- 
cessful sires of trotting speed. There was a stallion 
by Alexander's Abdallah that paced. He was known 
as Pacing Abdallah and so registered. Many years 
ago it was expected and predicted by those who be- 
lieved that the speed of the trotter came from the pacer 
that Pacing Abdallah would prove the most successful 
of all the sons of Alexander's Abdallah as a progenitor 
of trotting speed. He got in all two trotters that 
made standard records, viz., W. H. B. (2.28 1-4) and 
Bay Mate (2.30). The only son of Pacing Abdallah 
that had sired a standard performer up to the close 
of 1903 was Billy Campbell, and his only performer 
was Grace A. (2.161-4). 



270 



Chapter XI. 
INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 



Blood Lines of Noted Winners. — Top Gallant. — Screwdriver. — 
Whalebone. — ^Dutchman. — Lady Suffolk. — Flora Temple. — 
Dexter. — Goldsmith Maid. — Rarus. — St. Julien. — Jay-Eye- 
See. — Maud S. — Sunol. — Nancy Hanks. — Alix. — The Abbot- 
Cresceus. — Lou Dillon. 

There is a decided difference of opinion in regard to 
the influence of a thoroughbred cross upon a trotter. 
Some contend that as the thoroughbred has been bred 
for generations to race at the running gait and can- 
not trot fast as compared with trotting speed of the 
present day, that a thoroughbred cross of any kind 
must be, and surely is, detrimental to trotting speed. 
They say it is absurd to claim that any benefit to a 
trotter can come from a thoroughbred cross from an 
animal that can't trot. Some of the advocates of this 
idea have attempted to heap ridicule and abuse upon 
those who think and argue difl'erently. To many, es- 
pecially those who have given but little thought to 
the subject and others who have studied it super- 
ficially, such statements and opinions seem plausible. 
Students of the breeding problem, however, as well as 
unprejudiced practical breeders, care little for the 



271 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

opinions of any writer. What the man who studies 
and thinks for himself wants is facts, not opinions. 
Give him the facts and he can form his own opinion. 
Now what are the facts in regard to the effects of a 
thoroughbred cross on the trotter as shown by the 
Year Book and Register? Beginning with the most 
noted of the early American trotters and the most sue 
cessful sires and dams of such, how were they bred? 
What were the blood lines of the most successful speed 
perpetuators and of the descendants of these famous 
sirs and dams? 

Blood Lines op Noted Winners. What combina- 
tions of blood lines have produced the world's record 
breakers from Lady Sufifolk (2.291-2) to Lou Dillon 
(15812) and the record-breaking producing sires 
from Rysdyk's Hambletonian, the greatest trotting 
progenitor of all time, to Nutwood (2.18 3-4) and Al- 
lerton (2.091-4), the greatest of their age that have 
ever lived? Plain, unvarnished facts must outweigh 
in all unprejudiced minds mere theories and opinions 
that are not supported by facts. Let us go back to the 
earliest of the American trotters and see from what 
source they came, then follow along down through 
the line of the most famous of the world's trotting 
record-breakers and see from what sort of ancestors 
they came. Facts gleaned from the study of such 
should throw some light upon this subject. 

Top Gallant. Four of the most noted and success- 
ful of the early trotters whose breeding is known, taken 
in the order of the date that they were foaled, were 
Top Gallant, Screwdriver, Whalebone and Dutchman. 

272 



INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

Top Gallant was foaled about 1810 and got by Corian- 
der, whose sire was imported Messenger, a horse bred 
for racing at the running gait, and that was raced for 
several seasons in England with fair success. The 
dam of Coriander was by Allen's Brown Figure, prob- 
ably a descendant of that son of Grey Figure which 
won a four-mile running race at Annapolis, Md., in 
1766. Coriander's second dam was by Rainbow, a son 
of the imported running-bred Wildair, a successful sire 
of race winners, both in England and in America. 

The dam of Top Gallant was by Bishop's Hamble- 
tonian, a running-bred horse and quite a successful 
race winner, whose aire was imported Messenger, and 
whose dam was Pheasant, by imported Shark, a son 
of Marske, the sire of the invincible English Eclipse. 
Top Gallant was trotting races of four-mile heats after 
he was twenty-two years old and was well up with the 
best of the trotters even then. He was inbred to im- 
ported Messenger and had several other running 
crosses close up. His immediate ancestors, in fact 
all of his ancestors so far as known, were from run- 
ning-bred stock. 

Screwdriver. Screwdriver was foaled in 1819 and 
was raced from 1824 to 1828, when he died. He beat 
some of the best of his day, including the noted Top 
Gallant. Screwdriver was got by American Com- 
mander, a son of Commander, by imported Messenger. 
The dam of American Commander was by the thor- 
oughbred imported Light Infantry. Screwdriver'a 
dam was by Mount Holly, a son of imported Messenger. 
The dam of Mount Holly was by Bajazet, a thorough- 
bred son of imported Bajazet, and his second dam waa 



273 



THE AM ERIC Ay TROTTER. 

by Bashaw, a thoroughbred son of imported Wildair. 
Screwdriver, like old Top Gallant, was inbred to im- 
ported Messenger and also inherited a large amount 
of other thoroughbred blood. 

Whalebone. Whalebone was foaled about 1820, 
hence was about ten years younger than old Top 
Gallant. He was a horse of great endurance and once 
beat Top Gallant, though he was never so fast as 
Top Gallant in his prime. He was only ten years old 
when he beat Top Gallant, and the latter was then 20 
years old. In 1831 Whalebone trotted thirty-two 
miles in one hour, fifty-eight minutes and five seconds. 
His sire was Bishop's Hambletonian, a running-bred 
son of imported Messenger, and his dam wa« by 
CoflSn's Messenger, by imported Messenger. The dam 
of Coffin's Messenger was by Feather, a -son of the 
thoroughbred imported Light Infantry. 

Dutchman. Dutchman was foaled in 1828 and was 
the greatest trotter that had ever been produced up to 
his time. His sire was Tippoo Saib, Jr., a son of Mur- 
phy's Engineer, and Murphy's Engineer was by Grey 
Mambrino, a son of imported Messenger. The dam 
of Dutchman was by Mambrino, a son of im 
ported Messenger that was also known as Fox- 
hunter, and this Mambrino's (Fox-hunter) dam 
was by Pulaski, a thoroughbred son of Why- 
not. The latter was a thoroughbred son of 
imported Fearnaught. The second dam of Fox- 
hunter was by Wilkes, a thoroughbred son of imported 
Figure; third dam a thoroughbred daughter of True 
Briton, a son of imported Othello. Dutchman beat 



274 



INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

all the best trotters of his day, ineludiug the famous 
Lady Suflfolk. 

Lady Suffolk. The first trotter to take a record 
below 2.30 to haruess was Lady Suflfolk, that won a 
race against Moscow at Beacon Course, N. J., October 
13, 1845, taking first, second and fifth heaths in 2.34:, 
2.29 1-2, 2.36. Moscow won the second and third heats 
in 2.30, 2.34. Lady Suffolk was both a world's cham- 
pion trotting record breaker and a world's champion 
race winner. She was campaigned for fifteen seasons, 
won eighty-one races and received two forfeits. Many 
of her races were two-mile heats, and some of them 
were four-mile heats. The first race that she won was 
on the Beacon Course, N. J., June 22, 1838, and her 
last victory was at Union Course, Long Island, N. Y., 
July 5, 1852. This wonderful mare was bred by Leon- 
ard W. Lawrence, Smithtown, L. I., and foaled in 1833. 
Her sire was Engineer 2d, a son of Engineer by 
imported Messenger. The dam of Engineer 2d was 
raced successfully at the running gait. Her sire was 
Plato, a full brother of Bishop's Hambletonian, the 
best son of imported Messenger. The second dam of 
Engineer 2d was by Rainbow, a running-bred son of 
the famous imported Wildair. The dam of Lady Suf- 
folk was by Don Quixote. His sire was Potomac, a 
thoroughbred son of imported Messenger, and his dam 
was a daughter of imported Messenger. This Don 
Quixote is registered in Vol. 1 of the American Trot- 
ting Register, where it is stated that he was by im- 
ported Messenger, and from a dam of unknown 
breeding, but this was discovered to be an error and 
was corrected in Vol. 3 of the American Trotting 

275 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Register, where his breeding is given as above. The 
second dam of Lady Suffolk was by Rainbow, the run- 
ning-bred son of imported Wildair that got the second 
dam of Engineer 2d, by which it will be seen that Lady 
Suffolk was strongly inbred to imported Messenger, 
and was also inbred to the imported Wildair 
strain. The get of imported Wildair was so highly 
esteemed in England that after the horse had been in 
this country a few years he was bought by an English 
breeder for stock purposes and taken back to his native 
land. He was a near descendant of Godolphin Ara- 
bian, Darley Arabian and Byerley Turk, the three 
horses to which the famous English thoroughbred 
race horse is most largely indebted for his speed and 
superior racing qualities. Wildair was by Cade, one 
of the most successful sons of Godolphin Arabian as 
a progenitor of race winners. The dam of Wildair 
was by Steady, a noted son of the renowned Flying 
Childers, the fastest runner in England in his day 
and a son of Darley Arabian. Wildair's third dam 
was by Croft's Partner, and he by Jigg, a son of Byer- 
ley Turk. Pick's description of this horse has already 
been stated. It is as follows: "Partner was a horse 
of great strength, fine shape and beauty. He was the 
best racer of his time at Newmarket. This most ex- 
cellent horse was allowed to be as fine a stallion as 
any ever bred in this kingdom and not inferior to 
any foreign one." 

Such was all that is known of the breeding of the 
renowned race winner and world's record-breaking 
trotter. Lady Suffolk (2.291-2). All of her ancestors 
ivhose breeding was known were from race-winning 



276 



INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

running stock, like those of Top Gallant, Screwdriver, 
Whalebone and Dutchman. Narragansett pacers were 
plentiful when the ancestors of these animals were 
bred, and there were undoubtedly some cart horses in 
this country at that time, but these noted animals 
so far as known did not inherit a cross from either of 
those sources. 

Flora Temple. During the last year that Lady 
Suflfolk (2.291-2) was raced another trotter that 
proved a worthy successor began her racing career. 
This was Flora Temple. She was raced successfully 
for twelve consecutive seasons, and lowered the world's 
champion trotting record to 2.19 3-4 in the third heat 
of a race that she won at Kalamazoo, Mich., October 
15, 1859. Flora Temple won in all ninety-five races 
against the best trotters of her day. At Fashion 
Course, Long Island, July 25, 1861, she beat Ethan 
Allen and running mate in 2.21 1-4, 2.20 1-2, distancing 
the team in the second heat. This was her last victory, 
and a fitting climax to a most brilliant turf career. 
Flora Temple was bred by Samuel Welch of Oneida 
Co., N. Y., and foaled in 1845. It was stated at one 
time, and is still claimed by some, that her sire was 
One Eyed Kentucky Hunter, but Mr. Welch, who bred 
her, stated in a letter published in Wallace's Monthly 
of February, 1878, that her sire was Bogus Hunter. 
The latter was by Kentucky Hunter and he by Wat- 
kins Highlander, a son of the thoroughbred imported 
Brown Highlander. The dam of Kentucky Hunter 
was said to be a daughter of the noted four-mile race 
horse Sir Henry, by Sir Archy. 



277 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Mr. Welch undoubtedly intended to state facts and 
believed sincerely that he was doing so when he made 
the statement above referred to, that Flora Temple was 
by Bogus Hunter. There is very strong evidence, 
however, to show that, owing to his advanced age and 
the long time that had elapsed after the incident had 
occurred, and before he made the statement to Mr. 
Wallace, that some important details connected with 
the event had escaped his memory. There is direct 
evidence to prove that Mr. Welch took the dam of Flora 
Temple to the home of Bogus Hunter and had her 
mated with that horse, but that she failed to conceive 
and was sent back by a boy. Bogus Hunter was so 
busy the day that she was returned that his stable 
mate, One Eyed Kentucky Hunter, was used instead. 
Both were by the same sire, but Bogus Hunter was 
considerably larger than One Eyed Kentucky Hunter. 
Flora Temple bore a much stronger resemblance in 
size to the latter than the former, and the evidence 
seems conclusive that One Eyed Kentucky Hunter was 
her sire. 

The dam of Flora Temple was by a spotted horse 
that was claimed to be all Arabian or from Arabian 
stock, but we have never been able to learn his breed- 
ing. The second dam of Flora Temple was described 
by Mr. John L. Peck, who knew her well, as she was 
owned by his father. This Mr. Peck says she was a 
bay in color, with black points, low set and heavy, 
would weigh from ten hundred and fifty to ten hundred 
and seventy-five pounds, had a docked tail, and was a 
very smart animal, but he knew nothing of her origin 
or breeding. The above is all that the writer has ever 



278 



INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

been able to learn of the most remarkable trotter of 
her day. 

Dbxtbe. The first trotter to beat the record of 
Flora Temple was Dexter, by Rysdyk's Hambletonian. 
Dexter's be^t record was 2.17 1-4, but it is not improb- 
able that it would have been considerably faster had 
the horse not passed to the ownership of Robert 
Bonner soon after his record of 2.17 1-4 was made. 
Mr. Bonner never raced his horses in public. He 
bought the fastest trotters that could be found, paid 
higher prices than any other gentleman of his time, 
and used them for his private driving. Dexter 
(2.171-4), as everyone knows, was by Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian, and his dam was by Seely's American 
Star. It was claimed at one time that the trotter 
Dexter was by Sayre's Harry Clay (2.29), but the 
only ground for that claim was the fact that he had 
four white feet and some white in his face. Years ago 
we wrote to Mr. Jonathan Hawkins, the breeder of 
Dexter, asking him if Clara, Dexter's dam, was mated 
with Sayre's Harry Clay the year before Dexter was 
foaled. He replied that she was never mated with 
that horse. Seely's American Star was raced when 
youHg at the running gait. He was afterwards trained 
to trot, and showed considerable speed at that way 
of going. He was undoubtedly by Stockholm's Ameri- 
can Star, whose sire was Duroc and whose dam was 
closely inbred to the Messenger strain. The dam of 
Seely's American Star was by Sir Henry, a son of Sir 
Archy, and his second dam was a daughter of imported 
Messenger. This is all that is known of the breeding 
of Dexter. If there were any cold-blooded animals or 



279 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

any pacers among his ancestors they have never been 
discovered. 

Goldsmith Maid. The first trotter to beat Dexter's 
2.17 1-4 was the wonderful mare Goldsmith Maid, 
foaled in 1857, and she finally lowered the world's 
champion trotting record to 2.14 at Mystic Park, Med- 
ford, September 2, 1874, being then upwards of seven- 
teen years old. She equalled this record, at Belmont 
Park, Philadelphia, June 23, 1876. She beat Rarus 
in a race at Chico, Cal., May 19, 1877, in straight heats, 
time 2.19 1-2, 2.14 1-2, 2.17, and was then upwards of 
twenty years old. Goldsmith Maid was bred by John 
B. Decker, Deckertown, N. J. Her sire was Alexan- 
der's Abdallah, by Rysdyk's Hambletonian. Her dam 
was by old Abdallah, the sire of Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian, and her second dam was raced at four-mile 
heats at the running gait, but nothing is known of her 
breeding. Judging from the fact that she was a 
runner and was good enough to race at that gait, it is 
reasonable to believe that she was not from cold- 
blooded ancestors. The dam of Alexander's Abdallah 
was said to be by Bay Roman, a son of imported Ro- 
man. This has been questioned, and an effort was 
made some years ago to trace her breeding, but the 
parties knowing to the facts were either dead or so 
scattered that they could not be found, and the effort 
failed. No evidence has ever been presented to prove 
that any of the ancestors of Goldsmith Maid were 
from cold-blooded or from pacing stock, and no such 
claim has ever been made to the knowledge of the 
writer. 



280 



INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

Rarus. On August 3, 1878, at Buffalo, N. Y., the 
world's champion trotting record was lowered to 
2.13 1-4 by Rarus. The sire of Rarus was Gonklin's 
Abdallah, and he was claimed to be a son of old Ab- /^ 
dallah. There is little doubt that such was the case, 
though, so far as known, his breeder has never been 
reached. The dam of Rarus was Nancy Awful by 
Smith Burr's Napoleon. The latter was an inbred 
Messenger. The second dam of Rarus was Lady 
Hunter by Vermont Black Hawk. There are no cold 
crosses or pacing crosses in the dam of Rarus so far 
as known, though the Register erroneously gives the 
dam of Vermont Black Hawk as a pacer. The author 
of the Register was unconsciously led into this error 
by someone who in attempting to trace the dam of 
A^ermont Black Hawk got on the trail of the wrong 
animal. 

St. Julibn. The 2.13 1-4 of Rarus stood as the 
world's champion trotting record till October 2.5, 1879, 
when St. Jvilien reduced it to 2.12 3-4 at Oakland, Cal. 
He afterwards reduced it to 2.11 1-4 at Hartford, 
Conn., August 27, 1880. St. Julien was foaled in 1869. 
His sire was Volunteer. The latter was by Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian and his dam was Lady Patriot, by 
Young Patriot, whose sire was Patriot, a sou of the 
thoroughbred Blucher, by Duroc. The second dam of 
Volunteer was the Lewis Hulse mare. Nothing is 
known of her breeding, but she was a fast runner and 
also a fast trotter. It has been stated upon good au- 
thority that the owner of the Lewis Hulse mare issued 
a standing challenge to run or trot her against any- 
thing that could be led into that county. The dam 



281 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

of St. Julien was Flora by Sayre's Harry Clay (2.29) ; 
second dam by Napoleon, a son of imported Napoleon 
and third dam by Cox's imported Arabian. The an- 
cestors of St. Julien so far as known were all from 
the best of racing stock. 

Jay-Eye-See. The first trotter to take so fast a 
record as 2.10 was Jay-Eye-See. He trotted to this 
record at Narragansett Park, Providence, R. I., August 
1, 1884. Jay-Eye-See (2.10) was foaled in 1878. His 
sire was Dictator, a full brother of the renowned 
Dexter (2.171-4), being by Rysdyk's Hambletonian 
and from the great brood mare Clara, by Seely's 
American Star. The dam of Jay-Eye- See was Mid- 
night, by Pilot, Jr., whose breeding has already been 
given. Jay-Eye-See's second dam was Twilight, a run- 
ning-bred daughter of the great four-mile race horse 
Lexington, by Boston. The third dam of Jay-Eye-See 
was Daylight, by imported Glencoe; fourth dam Dark- 
ness, by Wagner, a four-mile race record breaker in his 
day, whose sire was Sir Charles, by Sir Archy, and 
whose dam, Maria West, was by Marion, another son 
of Sir Archy. The fifth dam of Jay-Eye-See was Lady 
Gray, by Sir Richard Tonson; sixth dam Lucy Clark, 
by Tennessee Oscar, a son of Wonder, by imported 
Diomed; seventh dam by imported Knowlesly, and 
eighth dam by imported Diomed. The dam of Pilot, 
Jr., sire of Jay-Eye-See's dam, was by a running-bred 
son of Sir Archy, and all the dams beyond that were 
from the best of running-bred stock on both sides. 

Maud S. The first trotter to beat the record of Jay- 
Eye-See (2.10) was Maud S., and she finally lowered 
the world's champion trotting record to 2.08 3-4. This 

282 



INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

was at Cleveland, O., July 30, 1885. Maud S. was by 
Harold, whose sire was the renowned Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian and whose dam was by old Abdallah, the 
sire of Rysdyk's Hambletonian. The blood lines of 
the dam of Maud S. were quite similar to those of the 
dam of Jay-Eye-See. Her dam was Miss Russell, by 
Pilot, Jr. ; second dam Sally Russell, by Boston ; third 
dam Maria Russell, by Thornton's Rattler, a son of 
Sir Archy ; fourth dam Miss Shepherd, by Stockholder, 
a son of Sir Archy ; fifth dam Miranda, by Topgallant, 
son of imported Diomed; sixth dam a daughter of im- 
ported Diomed and seventh dam by imported Medley. 
With the exception of old pacing Pilot, sire of Pilot, 
Jr., all of the ancestors of the dam of Maud S., so far 
as known, were from the best of running race horse 
stock. 

SuNOL. The next trotting record breaker was Sunol, 
foaled in 1886. She lowered the world's champion 
trotting record to 2.08 1-4 at Stockton, Cal., October 
20, 1891. Sunol was by Electioneer, whose sire was 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian, and whose dam, the famous 
Green Mountain Maid, was by Sayre's Harry Clay 
(2.29). The second dam of Electioneer was Shanghai 
Mary, whose sire was undoubtedly Iron's Cadmus, and 
whose dam was running bred. The dam of Sunol was 
Waxana, by the fast trotting stallion Gen, Benton. 
Sunol's second dam was Waxy, a running-bred 
daughter of the renowned four-mile record breaker 
Lexington, by Boston; third dam Keenon Mare, by 
Brawner's Eclipse, son of American Eclipse; fourth 
dam Mary Streshly by John Henry, a son of Muckle 
John, by Sir Archy; and fifth dam Mary Hunter, by 

283 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

HaiTis' Paragon. It will be observed that the breed- 
ing of Sunol was quite similar on both sides to that 
of Maud S. (2.08 3-4) and Jay-Eye-See (2.10). 

Nancy Hanks. The record of Sunol (2.081-4) 
stood as the best ever made by a trotter till August 
17, 1892, when Nancy Hanks, foaled in 1886, hitched 
to a bicycle sulky, reduced it to 2.07 1-4, and finally, 
at Terre Haute, Ind., September 28, 1892. lowered it 
to 2.04. Nancy Hanks was by Hapi^y Medium 
(2.321-2), whose sire was Rysdyk's Hambletonian, 
and whose dam was the noted trotter Princess (2.30), 
that forced Flora Temple to her record of 2.19 3-4. 
Princess was by Andrus' Hambletonian, whose sire, 
Judson's Hambletonian, was by Bishop's Hambleton- 
ian, a running-bred son of imported Messenger. The 
dams of both Judson's and Andrus' Hambletonian 
were by a descendant of imported Magnum Bonum. 
a horse strongly inbred to the renowned Godolphin 
Arabian. Princess' dam was by Burdick's Engineer, 
a son of Engineer, by imported Messenger. The dam 
of Nancy Hanks (2.04) was Nancy Lee. Her sire was 
Dictator, the full brother of Dexter (2.171-4), whose 
breeding has already been given. The second dam of 
Nancy Hanks was Sophy, by Alexander's Edwin For- 
rest, a horse inbred to Watkins' Highlander, a son of 
the running-bred imported Brown Highlander; third 
dam by Parker's Brown Pilot, whose sire was Brutus, 
and whose dam was by Cherokee, a thoroughbred son 
of Sir Archy. Brutus was by the Canadian pacer Old 
Copperbottora, and his dam was by the thoroughbred 
Kobin Grey. Nancy Hanks' fourth dam was by Ber- 
trand, a tliovoughbred son of Sir Archy. Nancy 



284 



INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

Hanks is quite close inbred to the renowned Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian, himself a strongly inbred Messenger. 
Princess, the dam of her sire, was inbred to the Mes- 
senger strain. Nancy Hanks got a remote pacing 
cross through old Copperbottom, and considerable of 
the running element all along the line. 

Alix. The record of Nancy Hanks (2.04) stood as 
the best for trotters until September 19, 1894, when 
Alix, then six years old, reduced it to 2.03 3-4, at 
Galesburg, 111. Alix was got by Patronage, a son of 
Pancoast (2.213-4), and he a son of Woodford Mam- 
brino (2.211-2), the fastest son of Mambrino Chief. 
The dam of Woodford Mambrino was by Woodford, a 
running-bred son of Kosciusko, by Sir Archy. Pan- 
coast's dam was the great brood mare Bicara (dam of 
six trotters in the list), by Harold, son of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian; second dam P)elle (dam of McCurdy's 
Hambletonian, 2.261-2, Alexander's Belmont, 64, etc.), 
by Mambrino Chief; and third dam by Brown's Bell- 
founder, whose sire was the Norfolk trotter imported 
Bellfounder, and whose dam. Lady Allport, was very 
closely inbred to imported Messenger. She was by 
Mambrino, the running-bred son of imported Messen- 
ger that got Abdallah. Her dam was by Tippoo Saib, 
another running-bred son of imported Messenger, and 
her second dam was a daughter of imported Messen- 
ger. The dam of Patronage, sire of Alix (2.08 3-4), 
was Beatrice by Cuyler, a son of Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian. Beatrice was a full sister of Elvira, that 
reduced the world's champion four-year-old trotting 
record to 2.18 1-2. The second dam of Patronage was 
Mary Mambrino, by Herr's Mambrino Patchen; third 



285 



THE AM ERIC A^^ TROTTER. 

dam Belle Wagner, by Embry'is Wagner, a thorough- 
bred son of the old four-mile race record breaker Wag- 
ner; fourth dam Lady Bell, by Bellfounder, Jr., a son 
of imported Bellfounder; fifth dam Multiflora, a thor- 
oughbred daughter of Monmouth Eclipse, by American 
Eclipse; and sixth dam by Kosciusko, the son of Sir 
Archy that got the thoroughbred Woodford, sire of the 
great brood mare Woodbine, that produced Wedge- 
wood (2.19) and Woodford Mambrino (2.211-2). 

The dam of Alix (2.03 3-4) was Atlanta. Her sire, 
Attorney, was by Harold, the son of Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian that got the old-time champion Maud S. 
(2.08 3-4). The dam of Attorney was Maud (dam of 
King Jim, 2.201-2), by Alexander's Abdallah; second 
dam the Robert Bruce mare, a thoroughbred daughter 
of Robert Bruce; third dam by Muckle John, by Sir 
Archy. Robert Bruce was by Clinton, a son of Sir 
Charles by Sir Archy, and his dam was by Sir Archy. 
The second dam of Alix was Flirt, by Gen. Hatch, and 
he was by Strader's Cassius M. Clay, Jr. (22). His 
dam was by imported Envoy, and his second dam was 
by imported Tranby. Alix's third dam was the great 
brood mare Dolly, by Iowa, a thoroughbred son of im- 
ported Glencoe. The dam of Iowa was Maria Pearce, 
by Veto, a son of Sir Archy ; second dam Mary Stuart, 
by John Richards, another son of Sir Archy; third 
dam by Ogle's Oscar and fourth dam by imported 
Messenger. The fourth dam of Alix (2.03 3-4) was 
Dolly Aldrich. She probably originated in Ohio, the 
State that produced Shanghai Mary, dam of the fa- 
mous Green Mountain Maid. The noted old-time 
pacing champion Pocahontas (2.171-2) was also bred 



286 



INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

in Ohio. Whether Dolly Aldrich came from the same 
stock as Shanghai Mary and Pocahontas is not known, 
as her breeding has never been made public. Alix 
(2.03 3-4) was a very high-class race mare, as well as 
a world's champion trotting record breaker, and her 
pedigree is of unusual interest to all breeders of trot- 
ting stock. 

The Abbot. The Abbot, foaled in 1893, reduced the 
world's champion trotting record to 2.03 1-4, at Terre 
Haute, Ind., September 25, 1900. He was got by 
Chimes (2.30 3-4), whose sire was Electioneer, and 
whose dam was the famous brood mare Beautiful Bells 
(2.29 1-2) ; second dam the great brood mare Minne- 
haha, by Stevens' Bald Chief; third dam Nettie Clay 
by Strader's Cassius M. Clay, Jr., 22, and fourth dam 
by old Abdallah. Beautiful Bells was by The Moor 
(2.37), whose sire was Clay Pilot and whose dam was 
the thoroughbred Belle of Wabash, trotting record 2.40. 
The Abbot's dam was Nettie King (2.201-4), by 
Mambrino King, whose sire was Herr's Mambrino 
Patchen and whose dam was by Alexander's Edwin 
Forrest from a running-bred daughter of Birmingham, 
a thoroughbred son of Stockholder, by Sir Archy. The 
second dam of The Abbot (2.03 1-4) was Nettie Mur- 
phy, by Hamlin Patchen, whose sire, the famous 
George M. Patchen (2.23 1-2), was by Cassius M. Clay, 
a son of old Henry Clay, and whose dam was by 
Head'em, a thoroughbred son of imported Trustee. 
The dam of Head'em was Itasca. Her sire was the re- 
nowned four-mile race winner American Eclipse, and 
her dam was Betsey Ransom, a highly distinguished 
daughter of Virginian, by Sir Archy. The third dam 



287 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

of The Abbot (2.03 1-4) was by a sou of the runuing- 
bi'ed Kentucky Whip. It appears from the above that 
Nettie King (2.201-2), dam of The Abbot (2.031-4), 
inherited ;i large amount of the race winning running 
element. The Abbot (2.031-4) was a very successful 
campaigner in the Grand Circuit as well as a world's 
champion trotter. 

Crbscbus. Next in order of the world's champion 
trotting record breakers is Gresceus, foaled in 1894, 
that trotted to a record of 2.02 1-4 at Columbus, O., 
August 2, 1901. Gresceus (2.02 1-4) was by Robert 
McGregor (2.171-2), whose sire was Maj. Edsall 
(2.29), a son of Alexander's Abdallah. The dam of 
Robert McGregor was Nancy Whitman, by Seely's 
American Star, and his second dam was by Young 
Messenger Duroc, a son of Lawrence's Messenger 
Duroc, he hj Sir Archy Duroc, a son of the thorough- 
bred Duroc, by imported Diomed. The dam of 
Gresceus was the great brood mare Mabel, that also 
produced Nightingale (2.101-2), etc. Mabel was by 
Mambrino Howard, whose sire was Mambrino Chief 
and whose dam was by a horse called Davy Crockett 
(Scrugg's), whose breeding we have never been able 
to learn. His name does not appear in the Year Book 
either as a standard performer or a sire of such. The 
second dam of Gresceus (2.02 1-4) was by Allie West 
(2.25) that died when but six years old. He was a 
well-bred and very promising son of Almont by Alex- 
ander's Abdallah. The third dam of Gresceus was 
by Victor, a son of Downing's Bay Messenger. The 
latter was by Harpinus, a son of the running-bred 
Bishop's Hambletonian, by imported Messenger. The 



28S 



INFLUENCE OF THE THOROUGHBRED. 

fourth dam of Cresceus was by ('rusader, a thorough- 
bred son of the famous Sir Archy. Cresceus (2.02 1-4) 
was as greatly noted for gameness and endurance as 
for speed. He has the distinction of being the only 
stallion whose name appears in the table of world's 
champion trotters. 

Lou Dillon. The trotting record was reduced to 
2.00 by Lou Dillon at Readville, Mass., August 24, 
1903, and at Memphis, Tenn., October 24, 1903, she low- 
ered it to 1.58 1-2, where it now stands. In these 
performances Lou Dillon was preceded by a running 
horse that pulled a cart with a dirt shield suspended 
between the wheels and below the axle. She trotted 
a mile at Memphis in 2.01 in 1904 without a pacemaker 
in front. Lou Dillon was foaled in 1898. Her sire, 
Sidney Dillon, was by Sidney (2.19 3-4), a son of 
Santa Clau.s (2.17 1-2), and from the great brood mare 
Venus, whose sire was a son of the thoroughbred Wil- 
liamson's Belmont. The dam of Sidney (2.19 3-4) 
was Sweetness (2.21 1-4) by Volunteer, son of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian ; his second dam was by Edward 
Everett, a son of Rysdyk's Hambletonian. and his 
third dam by Sayre's Harry Clay (2.29). Santa Claus 
(2.17 1-2) was by Strathmore, a son of Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian. His dam was Lady Thorn, Jr., by Wil- 
liam's Mambrino; second dam Kate by Highland Chief, 
son of Mambrino Chief; third dam by Magowan's 
Halcorn, a son of Peter's Halcorn, whose sire was Hal- 
corn, a thoroughbred son of Virginian by Sir Archy. 
The fourth dam of Santa Claus was by Cockrell's 
Highlander, whose sire was Scott's Highlander, 
a son of Hunt's Brown Highlander, and he 



289 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

by Sir Patrick Highlander, a running-bred son of 
imported Brown Highlander. William's Mambrino, 
sire of the dam of Santa Clans, was by Ericsson 
(2.301-2), a son of Mambrino Chief; dam by Aratus, 
son of Director by Sir Archy; second dam by Timo- 
leon, a son of Sir Archy that got the famous race horse 
Boston, sire of the second dam of Maud S. (2.08 3-4). 
The dam of Lou Dillon (1.581-2) is the great brood 
mare, Lou Milton, by Milton Medium (2.25 1-2), whose 
sire was Happy Medium (2.321-2) by Rysdyk's Ham- 
bletonian, and whose dam was by Sackett's Ham- 
bletonian, another son of Rysdyk's Hambletonian. 
The breeding of the second dam of Lou Dillon 
(1.581-2) has not yet been fully established and the 
breeding of the second dam of her sire, Sidney Dillon, 
is as yet unknown. 

One remarkable fact in the breeding of all the above 
mentioned record breakers, from Dexter (2.171-4) to 
Lou Dillon (1.581-2), stands out so prominently that 
it must impress itself upon the minds of all unpre- 
judiced students of the breeding problem. It is that, 
with the exception of Rarus (2.131-4), every one of 
them has inherited the blood of Rysdyk's Hambleton- 
ian, and all except Alix (2.03 3-4) trace directly to 
that most renowned trotting progenitor in the pater- 
nal line. Another important fact is that in Alix 
(2.03 3-4), The Abbot (2.031-4), Cresceus (2.021-4) 
and Lou Dillon (1.581-2), the Hambletonian strain is 
combined with that of Mambrino Chief. There are 
also from one to several strains of the famous Sir 
Archv in nearlv all of them. 



290 



Chapter XII. 
THE WINNING COMBINATION. 



Rysdyk's Hambletonian possessed both trotting in- 
stinct and speed ability. He was a natural trotter and 
fast for his day. It is useless for anyone to attempt 
to dei^y that fact, for there are excellent judges of 
horse stock now living who knew the horse, rode after 
him and can testify to it. Mambrino Chief, too, was 
one of the fastest trotting stallions of his day. Both 
of them got trotters that were much faster than them- 
selves, and also got stallions that were more success- 
ful than themselves as sires and perpetuators of 
uniform and extreme speed. The fastest trotter got by 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian was Dexter (2.171-4), whose 
dam was by Seely's American Star, a horse whose 
ancestors, so far as known, were running bred. The 
two fastest trotting stallions got by Rysdyk's Hamble- 
tonian were Jay Gould (2.21 1-2) and Artillery 
(2.21 1-2), whose dams were both by Seely's American 
Star. The Hambletonian-American Star combination 
is found in the pedigrees of a number of record-break- 
ing trotters, among which are Dexter (2.171-4), Jay- 
Eye-See (2.10), Directum (2.051-4), Nancy Hanks 
(2.04) and Cresceus (2.021-4). 



291 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

The fastest of the get of Mambrino Chief wa^ Lady 
Thorn (2.18 1-4). Her dam, the Rodes mare, was bred 
in lines that so far as known were almost identical 
with those of Seely's American Star, The most suc- 
cessful sire and perpetuator of trotting speed of all 
the sons of Mambrino Chief was Herr's Mambrino 
Patchen, a full brother of Lady Thorn (2.18 1-4) . The 
most renowned son of Mambrino Patchen as a -sire 
was Mambrino King, whose dam was by Alexander's 
Edwin Forrest, and whose second dam was a running- 
bred daughter of Birmingham by Stockholder, a son 
of Sir Archy. Now it is a singular coincidence that 
the second dam of Mambrino King traces through 
•short and direct lines to the same source as that from 
which came both Seely's American Star and the Rodes 
mare, dam of Mambrino Patchen. 

The daughters of Seely's American Star were more 
successful as producers of trotting speed than those 
of any other stallion of his time. The same is also 
true of the daughters of Mambrino Patchen. That 
daughter of Mambrino Patchen which has proved most 
successful as a perpetuator both of uniform and ex- 
treme trotting speed is Alma Mater. The dam of Alma 
Mater was Estella, a thoroughbred daughter of import- 
ed Australian; second dam Fanny G., by imported 
Margrave; third dam Miss Lancess by Lance, a son 
of American Eclipse; and fourth dam by Aratus, son 
of Director, by Sir Archy. The pedigree of the third 
dam of Alma Mater presents a combination of blood 
lines very similar to that which produced Gano, sire 
of the dam of Mambrino Patchen. 



292 



THE WINNING COMBINATION. 

The above facts are familiar to all who have studied 
the Year Book, the Trotting Register and Bruce's 
American Stud Book. The most famous son of 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian as a progenitor of light har- 
ness speed was George Wilkes (2.22). The two grand 
sons of George Wilkes that outrank all others as sires 
of standard speed are Allerton (2.091-4), foaled in 
1886, and now the sire of one hundred and thirty-six 
that have made records in standard time ; and Ashland 
Wilkes (2.171-4), foaled in 1882, and now credited 
with ninety-six standard performers. Allerton 
(2.09 1-4) is inbred to George Wilkes. He was got by 
Jay Bird (2.313-4), whose sire was George Wilkes, 
and whose dam was by Mambrino Star (2.281-2), son 
of Mambrino Chief, his second dam being the trotting 
mare Lady Franklin (2.29 3-4), by Esty's Black 
Hawk, a son of Vermont Black Hawk. The dam of 
Allerton, Gussie Wilkes, was by Mambrino Boy 
(2.26 1-2) ; his second dam, Nora Wilkes, was by 
George Wilkes; third dam by the English thorough- 
bred imported Consternation, and fourth dam by 
Downing's Bay Messenger. Mambrino Boy (2.261-2), 
that got the dam of Allerton (2.091-4), was by Mam- 
brino Patchen, whose dam was by the thoroughbred 
Gano, and second dam by a son of Sir William of 
Transport by Sir Archy. The dam of Mambrino Boy 
(2.26 1-2) was Roving Nelly, a daughter of Strader's 
Cassius M. Clay. Jr. ; second dam by Bertbnue, a thor- 
oughbred son of Virginian, by Sir Archy; and third 
dam by Thornton's Rattler, by Sir Archy. 

Ashland Wilkes (2.17 1-4) was by Red Wilkes, whose 
sire was George Wilkes, and whose dam, Queen Dido, 

293 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

was by Mambrino Chief. The second dam of Red 
Wilkes was by Red Jacket, whose sire was the closely 
inbred Morgan Billy Root, also known as Comet. The 
dam of Red Jacket was by Sherman Morgan, a son of 
Justin Morgan. The third dam of Red Wilkes was 
probably thoroughbred. It was so claimed as stated 
in Gen. W. T. Withers' Fairlawn catalogue, and never 
disputed by those who knew her, to our knowledge. 
The dam of Ashland Wilkes was Daisy B., by Admin- 
istrator (2.29 1-2) ; second dam by the English thor- 
oughbred imported Knight of St. George; third dam 
by Pilot, Jr., and fourth dam by Woodpecker, a thor- 
oughbred son of Bertrand by Sir Archy. 

Both of the above stallions were strongly bred in 
Hambletonian, Mambrino Chief and Morgan lines, but 
both inherited a large share of the thoroughbred 
element other than that which they derived from 
Rysdyk's Hambletonian and Mambrino Chief. Many 
other grandsons of George Wilkes were more strongly 
bred in trotting lines and inherited much less of the 
running element than Allerton (2.09 1-4) and Ashland 
Wilkes (2,171-4), yet these two outrank all the other 
grandsons of that famous speed progenitor as sires and 
perpetuators both of uniform and extreme speed. 

Electioneer is credited with a greater number of 
standard performers than any other son of Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian. He is credited on the books of the 
National and American Trotting Associations with 
one hundred and sixty-five trotters and two pacers, a 
total of one hundred and sixty-seven that made records 
in conformity with their rules in standard time. A 
few of these records were rejected by the Register 

294 



THE WINNING COMBINATION. 

Association, and the Year Book credits Electioneer 
with but one hundred and fifty-eight trotters and two 
pacers. The dam of Electioneer, as is well known, 
was Green Mountain Maid by Sayre's Harry Clay 
(2.29) ; second dam Shanghai Mary, whose sire, un- 
doubtedly, was Iron's Cadmus, her dam being running 
bred. 

The three sons of Electioneer that have sired the 
greatest number of standard performers are Sphinx 
(2.201-2), Norval (2.14 3-4) and Chimes (2.30 3-4). 
Sphinx is now credited with sixty-two trotters and 
thirty-four pacers that have made standard records, 
a total of ninety -six. The dam of Sphinx was the great 
brood mare Sprite by Alexander's Belmont; second 
dam, the famous great brood mare Waterwitch, by 
Pilot, Jr.; third dam, Fanny Fern, by Kinkead's St. 
Lawrence ; and fourth dam, Brenda, by a thoroughbred 
colt, believed to be Oliver, a son of the great four-mile 
race record-breaker Wagner, inbred to Sir Archy. 

Norval (2.14 3-4) is now credited with sixty-five 
trotters and nineteen pacers in the standard list, a 
total of eighty-four. The number of his trotters that 
have made records of 2.30 or better is greater than 
that got by any other son of Electioneer. The dam of 
Norval was Norma, by Alexander's Norman, 25; sec- 
ond dam by Todhunter's Sir Wallace; third dam 
Eagletta, a thoroughbred daughter of the renowned 
Kentucky-bred four-mile thoroughbred race horse Grey 
Eagle, by Woodpecker, a son of Bertrand by Sir Archy. 
Todhunter's Sir Wallace, sire of the second dam of 
Norval, was by the thoroughbred Sir Albert, a son of 
Thornton's Rattler by Sir Archy. 



295 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

Chimes is now the sire of fifty-two trotters and 
twenty-nine pacers that have made standard record*;, 
and eight of them are in the 2.10 list. No other sou 
of Electioneer has ever had as good opportunities 
as Chimes, both as regards the breeding of the mares 
mated with him and the development of his get by a 
trainer — E. F. Geers, who probably has no superior 
as a developer of speed and a race driver? — and no 
other son can compare with him as a sire of extreme 
speed. Three of the get of Chimes are trotters with 
records of 2.06 or better. The fastest of these is the 
world's ex-champion trotter, The Abbot (2.031-4), 
whose dam, Nettie King (2.20 1-4), as has already been 
stated, was very highly bred, being by Mambrino King 
and from a daughter of Hamlin Patchen. His next 
dam was by a son of the running-bred Kentucky Whip. 
The next fastest of the get of Chimes is The Monk 
(2.05 3-4), whose dam, Goldfinch, is by Mambrino 
King; second dam by Hamlin Patchen; third dam by 
Dorsey's Old Golddust, and fourth dam by imported 
Glencoe. Fantasy (2.06) is the next fastest of the 
trotters got by Chimes, and her mile in 2.08 3-4 as a 
three-year-old still stands as the world's champion 
record for three-year-old trotters. Homora, the dam 
of Fantasy, was by Almonarch (2.24 3-4), whose sire 
was Almont, by Alexander's Abdallah, and whose dam 
was Hi, a thoroughbred daughter of Asteroid, he by 
the renowned Lexington and from a daughter of im- 
ported Glencoe. The second dam of Fantasy (2.06) 
was by Hamlin's Almont, Jr. (2.26), whose sire was 
Almont and whose dam was by Blood's Black Hawk, 



29G 



^ i 

■ u 





1 • 


• ,1 h ■ ■ 


,1 - 


^'f? 





'■■■is 



THE WINNING COMBINATION. 

his second dam being by the registered thoroughbred 
Boner's Saxe Weimer, by Saxe Weimer, a son of Sir 
Archy. 

The four most successful grandsons of Alexander's 
Abdallah as sires of speed are Nutwood (2.18 3-4), 
Robert McGregor (2.171-2), Altamont (2.26 3-4) and 
Hamlin's Almont, Jr. (2.26). The dams of all four 
of these were from mares whose sires were bred in run- 
ning lines. The blood lines of all four of the above 
except Altamont have already been given. Altamont 
was by Almont, 33. His dam was Sue Ford by Brown 
Chief, a son of Mambrino Chief, 11; second dam 
by the thoroughbred imported Hooten; third dam 
by Bertrand, thoroughbred son of Sir Archy, 
and fourth dam by imported Buzzard. Altamont 
made his record, 2.26 3-4, to wagon. His get 
that have made standard records include thirty 
trotters and twenty pacers, and seven of them made 
records from 2.04 1-4 to 2.09 3-4. 

The two most prominent grandsons in the paternal 
line of Dictator (sire of Jay-Eye-See, 2.10) as sires are 
Direct (2.05 1-2) and Directum (2.051-4). The sec- 
ond dam of Direct was by Jack Hawkins, a thorough- 
bred son of Boston, and the dam of Directum was 
by Venture (2.271-4), a running-bred horse that was 
got by Williamson's Belmont, a son of American Boy, 
and whose dam was by American Boy, Jr., another son 
of American Boy. 

Now from what source, or from which of their an- 
cestors, is it probable that all the noted animals above 
named, derived their speed capacity and their ability 
to perpetuate the same that made them superior to all 



297 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

others got by the same sires? Was it from those that 
had been bred by careful selections for many genera- 
tions expressly for extreme speed and the best of other 
racing qualities, or was it from such of their ances- 
tors, if they had any, as were not bred in racing lines 
and were never distinguished as winners? There are 
the facts ; now what is the logical conclusion to be de- 
rived from them? Is it probable that the improve- 
ment which has been made in trotting speed from the 
earliest times to the present is due wholly to the in- 
tensifying of the instinct or inclination to stick to 
the trotting gait, that has resulted from education, 
and by breeding from animals whose ancestors for 
many generations in every direction have been trained 
at the trotting gait? Is it not more probable that 
they inherited from some ancestors not noted for 
trotting instinct a greater amount of some quality or 
qualities upon which speed and race winning ability 
depends, than was possessed by their trotting ances- 
tors? Perhaps no one may be able to explain to the 
satisfaction of all why this is so, but that it is so every 
one can see for himself. 



298 



Chaptbe XIII. 
THE THOROUGHBRED ELEMENT. 



Though it may appear incredible to some that a 
horse whose ancestors have been bred for centuries to 
run, and have been raced successfully at that gait, can 
transmit any quality that will improve the speed and 
other race-winning, record-breaking abilities of a trot- 
ter, yet it cannot be denied, without misstating facts, 
that nearly all the famous trotters whose breeding is 
known which have held world's champion trotting rec- 
ords, from Dexter (2.171-4) to Lou Dillon (1.581-2), 
have inherited a greater share of the thoroughbred 
than of any other known element. 

It has already been learned from the Year Book 
and Trotting Register that the sires, in the Hamble- 
tonian, Mambrino Chief and Clay families, which 
have proved most successful as perpetuators of uni- 
form, standard speed, also show quite close thorough- 
bred crosses in their pedigrees, as does also Sidney 
Dillon, sire of the present world's champion trotter, 
Lou Dillon (1.581-2), and several others of extreme 
speed. 

The eminent author, Herbert Spencer, once remarked 
of a certain matter, "It seems difficult to conceive that 



299 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

this can be so, but we see that it is so." This remark 
applies to the thoroughbred cross close up in so many 
of the fastest American trotters, the most successful 
sires and such famous producing dams as Alma Mater. 
Miss Russell, Midnight, old Dolly, Nell, Dame Winnie, 
etc. It is probable that if horsemen generally pos- 
sessed a more thorough knowledge of the subject of 
heredity, the mystery would appear to them less diffi- 
cult of solution. A little reflection must convince 
everyone that race-winning, record-breaking runners 
and race-winning, record-breaking trotters must and 
do possess several qualities in common. Some of them 
are speed ability, endurance and courage, or a dispo- 
sition to win, to beat an opponent in a contest, or die 
in the attempt. These are inherited qualities that 
are transmitted from parent to offspring. 

The ability to go fast at any gait depends largely 
upon the attribute that is known generally to horse- 
men as nerve force. Some of the most eminent writers 
on the breeding of trotting stock have failed to call 
attention to this fact. The late John H. Wallace de 
voted columns of space in Wallace's Monthly to "in- 
stinct," the inclination to stick to the trotting gait, 
but not a single column, and so far as the writer can 
remember, not even a single paragraph, to this most 
important of all speed qualities — nerve force. The 
late Dr. Elwood Harvey was the first author who 
explained the nature and working of this important 
quality in a chapter of the work entitled "Every 
Horse Owner's Cyclopedia." His remarks on this sub- 
ject are worthy of careful study by every practical 



300 



THE THOROUGHBRED ELEMENT. 

breeder of trotting stock and every student of the 
trotting problem. We quote from the above work as 
follows : 

A horse may be lazy and yet trot fast when called on; or 
he may be very spirited, always willing to do his best, and 
not be able to trot in four minutes. A very strong horse 
that can trot off with a loaded market wagon behind him at a 
good gait, and keep it up for miles, may not be a fast trotter 
at any weight. Or a horse may have most excellent bottom — 
may take two men in a wagon over common roads sixty miles 
a day, and repeat it every day in the week; or he may be 
good for ten miles an hour under the same circumstances, and 
not be able to trot a single mile in four minutes. 

Speed, then, does not depend entirely on the form, nor 
on the way of going, nor on the strength, nor on 
the spirit of a horse. The value of a fast trotter may depend 
greatly upon these qualities, but not his speed. Any form, 
and any style of going, may do, if he can step fast enough; 
and the power to step fast does not depend on form, spirit, 
strength, nor stamina — though all of these do modify the 
manifestation of that power upon which speed does depend. 

Let UB now consider the essential element of speed at any 
gait, whether it be running, pacing or trotting. All the 
movement is effected by the contraction of those masses of 
lean meat called muscles. The muscles of volimtary motion 
are each attached to two bones by its two extremities, and 
the bones being attached to each other by a movable joint 
when the muscle contracts one or both of the bones must 
move; and, of course, the rapidity of the movement depends 
on the rapidity of the contraction. An animal wills the move- 
ment of a limb; that will, which originates in the brain, is 
transmitted through nerves to the muscles; they contract 
and the limb moves. 

It would seem, then, that if a horse desired to go fast, and 
his muscles were large enough, and his joints supple, he 
must needs do so whenever he tries; for if the muscles obey 
the will, and Che will is that they shall contract quickly, the 

301 



TEE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

whole thing would be accomplished. Speed would then de- 
pend on the size of the muscles, and the willingnoss of the 
horse to contract them rapidly. But the facts are clearly 
against such a theory; for all have noticed that a highly 
spirited horse that is very strong to pull a load may not be 
able to go fast in any gait. 

The truth is that all power to move lies not in the brain 
which is the seat of the win, nor in the muscles which are 
the place of the movement, but between the two, in the spinal 
cord, which is the centre of the nervous system, and the 
generator of the power. The spinal cord lies in the back 
bone, filling the canal or hole that extends through Its whole 
length, and giving off nerves from every part of it that go 
to all parts of the body. It is connected to the brain, and 
appears like a prolongation of it from the cavity of the skull 
along the cavity of the spine; but the rational view of the 
spinal cord, and the one that is sustained by comparative 
anatomy, is that wEich considers it the centre of the nervous 
system; the brain being an extension of it in one direction, 
and the nerves an extension of it in another direction, the 
whole constituting the nervous system. 

The brain is the seat of all mental manifestations — of 
thought, memory, love, fear, emulation, courage, etc. The 
disposition and character depend upon the brain, but it is not 
necessary to animal life. The nerves extend to every part of 
the body; some of them convey sensations to the brain, as of 
heat, or cold, or pain; others of them go to the muscles, and 
convey to them the power that is generated in the spinal cord 
by which they contract. The will to move is conceived in the 
brain, and goes to the spinal cord, which then generates the 
power to move. The power, which for convenience of lan- 
guage we will call nerve force, is sent through the nerves and 
expended in the muscles, effecting their contraction and a 
consequent movement of the bones to which they are 
attached. 

The brain may be compared to a telegraph operator, the 
spinal cord to his galvanic battery, and the nerves to the 
wires. A chicken Witt its head off kicks and flutters with 



302 



THE THOROUGHBRED ELEMENT. 

strength enough to fly over a barn, or to run around it. The 
spinal cord generates the power for a short time, and would 
do so longer but for the loss of blood; but the brain, that 
gives intelligent direction to the power, is not there. The 
battery is sending its electricity along the wires without the 
control of the operator. 

If enough of the nerve force is sent to the muscles to move 
the body a mile in six minutes, it is six minutes in being 
generated. If the same amount of nerve force can be gen- 
erated and sent to the muscles in three minutes, we might 
suppose that the body would be moved the same distance in 
three minutes; and herein would appear to lie all the differ- 
ence of speed. But the amount of force generated by the 
nervous centre, and expended by the muscles, in a given 
time, does not exactly explain the difference of speed. 
One horse may expend as much nerve force in pulling 
a load a quarter of a mile in three minutes as 
another does in trotting a whole mile in the same time, and 
yet not be able to trot a mile in four minutes. The speed 
depends on the ability of the spinal cord to generate and 
send to the different sets of muscles concerned in locomotion, 
the required amounts of nerve force in a quick succession of 
discharges, and on the capability of the nerves to transmit it 
to the muscles in large quantity in a short time. 

The difference between trotting fast and drawing a heavy 
load is not in the amount of force used, but in the manner 
of using it. In one case, the nerve force is sent to a muscle 
during the whole time of faking a slow step with a heavy 
load; and in the other, it is all expended in an instant, causing 
the muscle to contract quickly, and thereby projecting the 
horse rapidly forward — ^the acquired momentum continuing 
after the muscle ceases to contract. It is like driving a nail 
by a succession of blows, that could not be moved by the 
same aggregate amount of pressure diffused and continued 
over the whole time of driving. 

The essential quality of speed, at any gait, is therefore a 
certain organization of the nervous system, and this Is the 
one thing needful in every case. This is what we breed for 
when we breed for speed. 

303 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER- 

Nerve force is an inherited quality. The more of 
it that an animal possesses the greater will be his or 
her speed ability. It was the larger amount of nerve 
force and the unusual capacity for generating it rap- 
idly and applying it quickly that made Flying Child- 
ers and Eclipse the fastest horses of their day in 
England, and Sir Archy, Wagner, American Eclipse, 
Boston and Lexington the fastest runners and most 
successful race horses of their days in America. It 
was this same quality that enabled Flora Temple 
(2.19 3-4), Dexter (2.17 1-4), Goldsmith Maid (2.14), 
Rarus (2.131-4), St. Julien (2.111-4), Jay-Eye-See 
(2.10), Maud S. (2.08 3-4), Nancy Hanks (2.04), Alii 
(2.03 3-4), The Abbot (2.031-4), Cresceus (2.021-4) 
and Lou Dillon (1.581-2) to become world's record- 
breaking trotters. These wonderful record-breakers 
must have inherited the valuable quality or qualities 
that enabled them to perform these remarkable feats 
from some thoroughbred ancestor or ancestors, near 
or remote, that possessed speed ability. It would be 
as unreasonable to suppose that these qualities were 
inherited from cold-blooded ancestors destitute of speed 
as it would be to attempt to heat a house by filling 
the fire-box of the coal furnace with ice or cobble>ttones 
instead of coal. 

The (|ualities necessary to enable h trotter or pacer 
to become a noted race winner and world's record- 
breaker are precisely the same that are required in a 
thoroughbred runner in order to enable him to become 
a noted race winner and world's record-breaker. Such 
animals differ in no material respect except gait. Now 
gait, or the habit of action, is more easily modified by 



304 



THE THOROUGHBRED ELEMENT. 

education and training than either nerve force and 
endurance, which are physical qualities, or courage, 
which is a mental one. Any competent authority on 
heredity or any one familiar with the subject knows 
this to be a fact. So does every intelligent, experienced 
horseman who is capable of reasoning from cause to 
eflfect. 

Horses were bred for racing purposes and were 
raced at the running gait for centuries before the breed 
now known as thoroughbred race horses was estab- 
lished. The qualities which now distinguish the 
noted race winners were undoubtedly improved during 
all those centuries by a careful selection of the most 
successful winners for breeding purposes. These 
valuable qualities — speed, courage and endurance- 
have been greatly improved since the thoroughbred 
came into existence and records have been carefully 
kept, because the greatest care has been used in the 
selection and mating of them. The turf registers 
have shown to all who were interested in the subject 
what horses were most successful as winners, and the 
Stud Book has shown the blood lines of the winners 
just as the Year Book and Trotting Register have shown 
the most successful trotters and their blood lines. Now 
as running race horses have been bred a longer time 
than those of any other gait for the highest rate of 
speed, most noted courage and greatest endurance, 
and with the greatest care to avoid the admixture of 
any element detrimental to these most important race- 
winning qualities, any one capable of reasoning can 
see that the hest thoroughbreds of the present time 
must necessarily possess a larger amount of nerve 

305 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

force, a greater capacity for generating it rapidly and 
applying it quickly than any horses which are not 
strictly thoroughbred. 

By a careful selection and mating for generations of 
those racing stallions and mares which have shown 
the ■strongest inclination to win and to keep on trying 
when racing against an adversary that outclasses him 
in speed, the iest thoroughbred race horses of the 
present time uniformly possess a higher degree of 
courage* — ^that grim, unyielding determination to win 
or die — than any family of horses can possess uni- 
formly that is not thoroughbred, and the same is true 
of endurance. The law of heredity, which includes 
atavism and modification by variation, is such that 
some horses which are not thoroughbred — some trot- 
ters for instance — may themselves possess those quali- 
ties which they inherited from some thoroughbred an- 
cestor, near or remote, in as high a degree as the best 
of their thoroughbred ancestors, but if there be any 
deteriorating influence or element, such as a slow or 
cart horse cross, in their composition, such animals, 
though exhibiting as high a degree of these valuable 
qualities themselves, will not, as a rule, be able to 
transmit them to their offspring with so great uni- 
formity as the thoroughbred animal in whose compo- 
sition no deteriorating element is found. There is a 
great difference in thoroughbreds in regard to speed 
capacity, courage and endurance, and ability to per- 
petuate the same. Some may excel in respect of one 
or two of these qualities, and for some cause be some- 
what deficient in the others. It has been argued that 
some thoroughbreds are quitters. Very true. Any 



306 



THE THOROUGHBRED ELEMENT. 

horse will quit when not in proper condition to race 
When the nerve force and the ability to generate it are 
exhausted, the speed of the animal must slacken the 
same as the speed of a locomotive propelled by steam 
when the steam is exhausted. 

The trotters which hold the fastest records in this 
country today are largely indebted to some thorough- 
bred ance-stor for the improvement in trotting speed 
which has been made for the past ten or twelve years. 
In order to effect a still greater improvement it will 
be necessary to increase the speed capacity or nerve 
force by introducing a cross of some animal that pos- 
sesses a larger amount of this quality and that 
transmits it with greater uniformity than any trotter 
can do that numbers among his or her ancestors ani- 
mals that were deficient in speed. We believe that the 
speed of the American trotter may and will be im- 
proved in the future as in the past, by means of a 
first-class thoroughbred race-winning cross. 

Every one who has studied the subject and carefully 
analyzed the pedigrees of the fastest trotters must 
have observed that the thoroughbred crosses in their 
pedigrees were confined to animals belonging to but 
few families. These are what some horsemen hav( 
termed plastic thoroughbreds, because when crossed 
with trotters they readily yield to trotting influences 
or habit of action, and at the same time retain their 
most valuable qualities unimpaired, so that they im- 
prove the speed and other valuable qualities of the 
trotter. The most prominent of these running strains 
are the Sir Archy and Duroc branches of the Diomed 
family; the Trustee, Margrave, Bonnie Scotland^ 



307 



THE AMERICANS' TROTTER. 

Glencoe, Consternation, Williamson's Belmont and a 
few others. It would seem best, then, when attempt- 
ing to improve the trotter by means of a thoroughbred 
cross, that the animal selected should be a direct de- 
scendant of one or the other of the above-named 
horses, or, better still, that like Dame Winnie, Colum- 
bia and Estella for example, should combine the blood 
of several of them. It is generally believed that the 
sire has more influence in controlling the action than 
the dam. This may account for the fact that the best 
results from thoroughbred crosses have been obtained 
by mating thoroughbred mares with good trotting 
stallions, animals that had good action and were level- 
headed, fast trotters. 

The breeder who is content with only a fair rate of 
speed need not go to the trouble to experiment with 
the thoroughbred cross. But the man who is am- 
bitious to breed a record-breaker or improve the speed 
of the American trotter should continue to breed 
along those lines from which improvement has resulted 
in the past. The time may come when it will not be 
possible to effect more improvement in this manner, 
but it will not be until we have a family of trotters 
that are bred purely from the best of thoroughbred 
racing stock. Many of the trotting stallions and 
mares of the present day approximate that quite close 
ly. Analyze their pedigrees carefully, and it will be 
found that so far as known there is little dross or cold 
blood in their composition. Such stallions as Nut- 
wood (2.18 3-4), Lord Russell. Anteeo (2.161-2), Del 
march (2.111-2), his sire, Hambrino (2.211-4), 
Expedition (2.15 3-4), Kremlin (2.07 3-4), Directum 

308 



THE THOROUGHBRED ELEMENT. 

(2.051-4), Direct (2.051-2), Sidney Dillon and many 
others do not come so far from it as may appear at 
first glance. Bysdyk's Hambletonian and Mambrino 
Chief had but very little of the element that can be 
proved as cold blood. 

It is generally conceded that Messenger, an import- 
ed running horse, was the founder of the present 
American trotter. There have been other trotters in 
this country outside of his descendants, but nearly all 
the 2.10 trotters and all of the world's champion trot- 
ters since Dexter's time have been descendants of 
imported Messenger. It has been claimed that Mes- 
senger wa;! not a thoroughbred. It cannot be denied 
that he was running bred and was raced with fair 
success in England. There were better bred, faster 
and more noted race horses in his day both in England 
and America, and several in this country were much 
more successful as sires of race winners than he. Mes- 
senger, however, was one of the most plastic of thor- 
oughbreds. Some of his near descendants had beautiful 
natural trotting action, and when trained to trot 
would readily stick to that gait. The two of his sons 
that were most prominent in the foundation stock of 
the American trotter were Mambrino and Bishop's 
Hambletonian. The dam of Mambrino was better 
bred than imported Messenger himself, yet Mambrino 
was a failure as a running race horse, and this fact 
would indicate that he threw back to some ancestor 
of Messenger that was not a thoroughbred. In look- 
ing up the ancestors of those record-breaking trotters 
that had a thoroughbred inheritance through their 
dams, it will be found that the thoroughbreds from 



.309 



THE AMERICAN TROTTER. 

whom they derived their inheritance were better bred 
than imported Messenger and hence possessed a 
higher degree of valuable racing qualities than did 
Messenger himself. 

It has been alleged by some turf writers that the 
effect of a near thoroughbred cross in a trotter will 
make the animal rattle-headed, liable to break and run 
when urged to a high rate of speed. This seems 
plausible, especially to the unsophisticated, and it may 
have proved so in some, perhaps many, cases. It does 
not require many trotting crosses as a rule, however, 
to overcome this tendency to be unsteady in most thor- 
oughbreds that are from the plastic families. Tw. 
good strong trotting crosses on a thorougbbred mare, 
bred from the plastic strains, will generally suffice. 
Alcantara (2.23) was bred that way. Mike Bower- 
man, who trained Alcantara and drove him to a race 
record of 2.23 as a four-year-old, informed us by letter 
several years ago, in reply to an inquiry, that Alcan- 
tara was very level-headed and seldom made a break. 
His dam. Alma Mater, was from the thoroughbred 
Estella, and Mambrino Patchen, sire of Alma Mater, 
was from a daughter of the thoroughbred Gano. 

The veteran trainer, Charles Marvin, has probably 
had more experience in training trotters that were 
from thoroughbred mares and from mares whose dama 
were thoroughbred, than all the other trainers in 
America. Speaking of the thoroughbred cross in his 
excellent work entitled "Training the Trotting Horse," 
Mr. Marvin says : "I want all the good thoroughbred 
blood that can be controlled." He also says: "My 



310 



THE THOROUGHBRED ELEMENT. 

experience has been in training horses from thorough- 
bred mares, that their heads are as good as the average 
trotting-bred horses' heads." Mr. Marvin's experience 
was mostly with the get of Electioneer, a horse that 
has been held up by turf writers as possessing greater 
action controlling power than any other trotting sire; 
but how they really know this, or upon what grounds 
they account for it, we have never been able to learn. 
It seems certain that Electioneer's second dam was 
by Iron's Cadmus, a running-bred son of Beache's 
Cadmus, by American Eclipse, and if so it is certain 
that his third dam was running bred. It has been 
stated upon good authority that the filly believed to 
have been Shanghai Mary, by Iron's Cadmus, that Mr. 
Coffein's son took with him when he left his father's 
place in Ohio, was from a running-bred mare. The 
fact is that no other trotting stallion ever had such 
opportunities as were given Electioneer, hence it is not 
possible to know what they could have done in the way 
of getting trotters from thoroughbred mares, and 
mares that were from thoroughbred dams. Another 
fact that those who have examined the Palo Alto cat- 
alogues know is that Electioneer, as a rule, got faster 
and better trotters from mares with the thoroughbred 
cross close up than from those most strongly bred in 
what is termed trotting lines. 

There has been so much prejudice against the intro- 
duction of the thoroughbred cross and so much bitter- 
ness and abuse by theorists who have written in oppo- 
sition to it that very many are ignorant of the facts 
bearing upon this question that are contained in the 



311 



THE AMERICAN' TROTTER. 

Year Book and Register. Had it not been for tlie 
death of Leland Stanford, the adoption of the standard 
rules, and the^prejudice against a thoroughbred cross 
in a trotting pedigree, created by the writings of the 
late J. H. Wallace, there would probably now have 
been not less than ten two-minute trotters, and the 
two-minute line would have been passed without the 
aid of the wind shield. 

The future is full of promise for the American 
trotter. We believe that it will be many years yet be- 
fore the limit of his speed is reached. Of course, the 
reduction will be more gradual as the record is low- 
ered and the intervals longer between the clipping off 
of a fraction of a second. As breeders of trotting 
stock become more enlightened, some of the most pro- 
gressive of them will experiment systematically and 
judiciously with the thoroughbred cross as did the 
late Gov. Stanford at Palo Alto. They will continue 
to breed up as fast as the Hambletonian, Mambrino 
Chief, Clay and Black Hawk trotters can assimilate 
the racing blood, until finally every element uf dross 
has been eliminated from the American trotter. The 
result will be an animal that will possess all the 
racing qualities of the thoroughbred runner, and iu 
as high a degree as they exist in the best of that breed. 
They will stick to the trot as tenaciously as the best 
of trotters have ever done. They will be uniformly 
handsome, stylish, docile animals, and possess as much 
finish and quality as the best thoroughbreds that have 
ever been produced. Two-minute trotters will then be 



'Ml 



THE THOROUGHBRED ELEMENT. 

as plentiful as 2.10 ones are now. It may take half a 
century to accomplish this, perhaps more, but its ac- 
complishment is among the possibilities and so is a 
record of 1.55 or better for a mile without artificial 
aid, by a trotter so bred. 



END. 



313 



INDEX. 



Abdallah (Alexander's), 52, 54, 

74, 76, 78. 
Abdallah (Old), 52, 53. 
Abdallah (Pacing). 270. 
Aberdeeix. 62, 90, 93. 
Abraham, 186. 
Alcalde, 262. 
Alexander, 137. 
Alexander Button, 138. 
Alix, 285. 
Almack, 199. 
Alma Mater, 114. 
Amazonia, 53. 

Amazonia and Sophonisba, 199. 
American Clay, 135. 
American Girl, 133. 
American Star (Seely's), 193, 

194, 195, 196, 197, 198. 
American Star (Stockholm's), 

194, 195, 196. 
Andrew Jackson, 123. 
Andy Johnson, 138. 
Arabian (Markham's), 13. 
Arion, 65. 
Aristos, 184. 
Ashland, 263. 
Ashland Chief, 263. 
Ashland Wilkes, 293. 
Atlanta, 286. 



Bald Galloway, 24. 
Bayard, 222. 
Bay Chief, 77. 
Bay Roman, 7S. 



Belle of Wabash, 130. 

Bellfounder, Imported, 38. 

Ben Franklin, 184. 

Benton Family, The, 201. 

Betsy Baker, 54. 

Betsey Trotwood. 88. 

Bicara, 118. 

Blackwood, 205. 

Blanco, 238, 239. 

Blaze, 18, 20. 

Blood Lines of Noted Winners, 

272. 
Blucher, 79. 

Blue Bull (Pruden's), 229. 
Blue Bull (Wilson's), 227, 228. 

229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234», 235. 
Bonnie Scotland, Imported, 42. 
Boston Blue, 44. 
Boston Horse, 45. 
Breeding in the Future, 212. 
Brown Hal (2.12 1-2), 248. 
Buckhunter (Carlisle Gelding), 

25. 
Byerley Turk, 15, 17, 18, 22. 



Cade, 18, 24. 

Cassius M. Clay, 126. 

Cassius M. Clay, Jr. (Amos'), 

133. 
Cassius M. Clay, Jr. (Neaves'). 

128. 
Cassius M. Clay, Jr. (Strader's), 

134. 
Catton. 39. 



315 



INDEX. 



Champion Family, The, 198. 
Champion (Gooding's), 200. 
Champion (Grinnell's), 199. 
Champion (Scobey's), 199. 
Champion Pacing Records, 250. 
Charles Caffrey, 189. 
Charles Kent Mare, 57. 
Charley B., 200. 
Childers (Bartlett's), 21. 
Childers (Flying), 18. 
Chimes, 296. 
Clara, 86, 279. 
Clark Chief, 120. 
Clay Family, The, 121. 
Clay Pilot. 129. 
Cobden, 185. 
Consternation, 42. 
Coriander, 51. 
Cresceus, 288. 
Croft's Partner, 22. 



Daniel Lambert (Hippomones), 

179, 180, 181, 182, 183. 
Dame Winnie, 255. 
Darley Arabian, 15, 17. 
Dauntless, 101. 
Dexter, 279. 
Dictator, 62, 85, 297. 
Diomed, Imported, 32, 33, 34, 35, 

36. 
Direct. 89. 
Director, 89. 
Dolly, 136. 
Dolly Spanker, 66. 
Diirango, 134. 
Dutchman, 48, 274. 



Eclipse, 14, 24. 
Egbert, 61, 94, 95, 96. 
Electioneer, 61, 62, 294, 311. 
Elyria, 171, 268. 
Enchantress, 82. 
Engineer, 18. 
Engineer 2nd, 50. 
England, Horse Racing in, 11. 



English Eclipse, 20. 

English Race Horse, The, 11. 

Ericsson, 120. 

Estella, 114. 

Ethan Allen, 66. 172, 176, 178. 

Expedition, 42. 

Extinct Trotting Families, 193. 

Fantasy. 296. 

First Consul (Bond's), 121. 

Fleetwing, 131. 

Flora Temple, 277. 

Florizel, 32, 35. 

Flying Childers, 18. 

Flying Morgan, 174. 175. 176. 

Fred Crocker, 64. 



Garrard Chief, 262. 

Gen. Benton, 202, 203. 204. 

Gen. Hatch. 136. 

Gen. Knox, 186, 187, 188. 

Gen. Stanton, 102. 

General Stud Book (England). 

Established, 17. 
Gen. Washington, 189. 
George M. Patchen. 127. 128. 
George M. Patchen, Jr.. 137. 
George Wilkes, 61. 65. 293. 
Glencoe, Imported. 41. 
Godolphin Arabian, 15, 17, 18, 23. 
Gohanna, 39. 

Goldsmith Maid, 55, 77, 280. 
Golumpus, 39. 
Gov. Sprague, 237. 
Grand Bashaw, 121. 
Gray Diomed, 33. 
Gray Mambrino (Foxhunter), 49. 
Green Mountain Maid, 63. 

Hal Family, The, 244. 251. 
Hambletonian (English), 40. 
Hambletonian (Andrus'), 70. 
Hambletonian (Judson's), 71. 
Hambletonian (Rysdyk's), 55, 
58. 104, 291. 



316 



INDEX. 



Hambletonian's (Rysdyk's) 
Stud Book, Figures from, 60. 
Hambletonian Prince, 103. 
Happy Medium, 61, 70, 72, 73. 
Harold, 62, 82. 

Harry Clay (Sayre's), 132, 139. 
Havoc, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218. 
Helen M., 185. 
Henry Clay. 124, 125, 126. 
Highflyer, 14. 
Hip, 19. 
Hobgoblin, 23. 
Huntress, 82. 



Idol (Peck's), 264. 
lola, 107. 



Jane, Old. 200. 
Jay-Eye-See. 282. 
Jay Gould, 103. 
Jenny Lind, 227. 
Jersey Kate, 126. 
Jigg, 22. 
Jin Black, 56. 
Joe Hooker, 262. 

Justin Morgan, 140, 141, 142, 143, 
144, 145, 146, 147. 148, 149, 150. 



Katy Darling. 74. 
Kentucky Clay, 135. 
Kilbuck Tom, 257. 
King Herod, or Herod, 22. 



Lady Benton, 202. 

Lady Patriot, 79. 

Lady Suffolk, 49, 152, 275. 

Lady Surrey (Surrey Mare), 124. 

Lady Sutton, 151. 

Lady Thorn, 189, 258, 259. 

Lady Waltermlre, 97. 

Lath, 23. 

Little Brown Jug, 247. 



Long Island Black Hawk, 124. 
Lou DiUon. nt. 
Lou Milton, 290. 



Mabel, 288. 
Mac (2.27), 162. 
Magnum Bonum, 42. 
Mambrino, 18, 38, 52, 63. 
Mambrino Brave, 263. 
Mambrino Chief Family, 106. 110. 
Mambrino Chief, 258, 261. 
Mambrino Chief, Jr. (Fisk's), 

119, 264. 
Mambrino Chief and Mambrino 

Patchen Compared, 260, 266. 
Mambrino King, 113, 268. 
Mambrino Patchen (Herr's), 111, 

112. 
Mambrino Paymaster, 106, 107. 
Mambrino Pilot, 119. 
Mambrino Star, 263. 
Margn'ave, Imported. 40. 
MarskQ. 21. 
Masterlode, 102. 
Matchem, 24. 
Maud S., 85, 282. 
Messenger (Imported), 19, 28, 29. 

46, 309. 
Messenger Duroc, 104. 
Midnight, 225. 
Miller's Damsel, 64. 
Miss Russell, 224. 
Mixbury Galloway, 28. 
Moody, 206. 

Morgan Family, The, 140. 
Morse Horse, 163. 
Moscow, 49. 
Muley, 40. 



Nancy Hanks, 284. 
Nancy Pope, 212, 213. 214. 221. 
Nancy Taylor, 219, 220, 221. 
Narragansett Mare. 168. 
Narragansett Pacers, 244. 
Nelson (2.09), 172. 



317 



INDEX. 



"Nerve Force," 300. 
Nettle King:. 287. 
Norman (Alexander's), 204. 
North American, 98. 
Norval, 295. 
Nutwood, 224- 



One Eye, 57. 
OrviUe, 40. 



Pacing Cross, The, 266. 

Paddy, 164. 

Pancoast (2.21 3-4), 118. 

Paymaster, 42. 

Partner (Croft's), 22. 

Pilot, 212. 

Pilot, Jr., 212, 222. 

Pilot, Jr.'s, Daughters, 223. 

Plato, 51. 

Pocahontas, 240. 

Pocahontas Boy, 242. 

Pocahontas Sam, 242. 

Prlnceps, 118. 

Princess, 70, 71, 72. 



Rarus, 281. 

Regulus, 24. 

Rhode Island, 237. 

Robert Fllllngham (George 

"Wilkes), 67, 68, 69, 70. 
Rodes Mare, The, 134. 
Roxana, 23. 
Royal George Family, The, 207, 

208. 



St. Julien, 82, 281. 
St. Victor Barb, 25. 
Santa Claus, 99. 
Sampson, 18, 19, 21. 
Sam Purdy, 138. 
Screwdriver, 273. 
Seely, Jonas, 56. 
Shales, Old, 20. 



Shanghai Mary, 63. 

Sherman Morgan, 152, 163, 154. 

155, 156. 
Sidney DUlon, 289. 
SUvertail, 56. 
Sir Archy, 35. 
Slammerkin, 31. 
Smuggler, 238. 
Sour Crout, 38. 
Spiletta, 21. 
Squire Talmage (Strader's Ham- 

bletonian), 103. 
Stamboul (2.07 1-2), 131. 
Star Ethan, 185. 
Star Pointer, 249, 255. 
Steinway, 99. 
Stranger, 190, 191, 192. 
Strathmore, 62, 97, 98, 99. 100. 
Stump-the-Dealer, 246. 
Sultan, 41, 130. 
Sunol, 283. 
Sweepstakes, 101. 
Swigert, 206. 



Tackey, 226. 

Tartar, 22. 

Tattler, 223. 

Telltale, 223. 

The Abbot, 287. 

The Moor, 130. 

Thomas Jefferson 209. 

Thoroughbred Element. The, 
299. 

Thoroughbred, Influence of the, 
271. 

Thoroughbred and Pacing 
Crosses, 252. 

Thoroughbred Stallions Import- 
ed to This Country, 37. 

Thoroughbreds In England, 16. 

Thoroughbreds in England, 
Rules for, 16. 

Tom Hal (Kittrell's), 245. 

Tom Hal, Jr. (Gibson's), 245, 
246, 247. 

Tom Rolfe, 240. 



318 



INDEX. 



Top Gallant, 272. 
Traveller (Morton's), 37. 
Trotting Families from Pacers, 

211. 
True Briton, 145. 
Trustee, Imported, 39. 
Truxton, 232. 
Two Pacing Families, 243. 



Vermont Black Hawk (Morgan), 
157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 
164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170. 
171, 172, 173. 174, 175. 

Vermont Black Hawk's Dam, 27. 

Victor Von Bismarck, 102. 

Volunteer, 79, 80. 



Waterwltch, 225. 

Whalebone, 48, 274. 

Whitehall, 236. 

White Turk (Place's), 13. 

Whynot, 26. 

Widow Machree, 90, 91, 92. 

Wildair, Imported, 31. 

Woodbine, 116, 117, 260. 

Woodford Mambrino, 111, 115, 
264. 

Woodruff, Hiram, Writes on 
"The Trotting Horse of Amer- 
ica," 46. 

Yankee, 45. 
Young Rolfe, 241. 
Young Bashaw, 122. 



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